Shepard's Last Mission
by AmityN7
Summary: Shepard and Liara were enjoying Married life until a hit was placed on the Shadow Broker's head. Now Shepard is forced to embark on one final mission to save her family in a brutal tale of "Kill or be Killed" That will take Liara, Shepard and Garrus to their breaking points. Sequel to "The Wedding of Commander Shepard" Now updated with the additional Jack/Miranda/Kaidan scenes.
1. Part 1-A Suprise Attack

Shepard's Last Mission.

Chapter 1

Garrus looked up the long walkway that led to the large home of his former crewmates. It had been a couple of months since he last saw Liara and Shepard, and the couple's invitation to visit was enough of a push to motivate him to leave Palaven for a bit.

As the turian made his way towards the seaside home he admired the garden that one of the two women must have been tending to for quite some time. He guessed Liara, but part of him hoped it was Shepard. The novelty of seeing his old Commander in retirement had not yet worn off and seeing Shepard doing ordinary activities often made him chuckle.

As Garrus made his approach to the front door he took a moment to wipe his clothes clean with a brush of his hands and straighten his coat. He raised his three fingered hand and pressed the doorbell. Much quicker than he expected the front door swung open and Liara T'Soni stood before him. The asari was dressed very casually; she wore what appeared to Garrus to be one of Shepard's t-shirts.

Liara's face lit up when she laid her eyes on him. "Garrus! Good to see you!" Liara greeted him, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"Always nice to see you as well, Liara." Garrus replied.

Liara took his hand and led him inside the couple's large home. "Please come in!" she exclaimed as she dragged him into the living room.

Garrus admired the tall, sloped ceiling of the house, which for once did not make him feel cramped. A rarity in non-turian households.

"I always forget how nice this place is. I guess being the galaxy's biggest information broker has its perks."

"Indeed it does." Liara agreed, taking a seat.

"Which reminds me, that garden outside is wonderful. Your work or Shepard's?" Garrus asked trying to hide his interest in the question.

Liara smirked, "Oh please that was Shepard completely."

Garrus celebrated a little victory to himself. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Not sure. She was taking Benezia out for a walk earlier; I imagine she will be back soon. Can I get you anything?" Liara replied, standing from her seat and heading to the kitchen.

"No, I'm all right. So how are things?" Garrus said as he followed the Asari.

"Great. Shepard and Benezia go together better than I ever would have imagined. And my business as the Broker has been quite profitable lately. Feron has been making some aggressive expansions in the Terminus and I've been getting more intel than ever. " Liara answered as she poured herself a drink.

"You're not worried about working in the Terminus?" .

"Please, Garrus, I'm the Shadow Broker. If I wasn't working in the Terminus Systems I wouldn't be very good at my job. Still, it is worrisome dealing in such an unstable region of the galaxy. "

"Well, I guess you know what you're doing."

"What about you, Garrus? How are things back home?" Liara asked, sipping her drink.

"Good. Everything is finally back in working order. The Primarch keeps threatening me with a position by his side. "

"And you don't want one?"

"As much as I love bureaucracy, no. But I still do a thing or two for Victus when he needs it. Part of the reason I came out to Thessia today."

"And how are things with Tali?" Liara asked with a smile.

"Great, actually. She had to do some Admiral business on Rannoch otherwise I would have brought her. Actually, I was hoping to ask the two of you something."

Before Liara could respond, Shepard came through the front door with Benezia in her arms. The small Asari child had her hands wrapped around Shepard's hair and was tugging violently; each tug was followed by a loud "Ow!" from Shepard.

"Liara, I don't know what it is with this kid and my hair but I'm gonna be bald by the end of the week." Shepard said as she glared at the handful of hair her daughter had just yanked from her head.

Garrus walked into the entryway to greet his old friend.

"Might be a good look for you, Commander." Garrus said with a chuckle.

"Garrus, you came!" Shepard said with a surprised smile on her face.

"Figured I'd drop in to see how the galaxy's greatest dad was doing." He said.

"Ha ha." Shepard said dryly. "Here, can you take her for a second before she scalps me?" She said handing the baby to the turian.

Garrus carefully took the child from her hands and was surprised at how heavy she was.

Garrus raised the tiny Asari above his head. "You are getting big, Benezia!"

Shepard greeted her wife with a kiss. "Miss me?"

"Of course. How was your walk?"

"Nice, little girl almost took a few steps on her own. She's getting there pretty quickly." Shepard answered. "So Garrus what brings you here? I didn't exactly think you would accept our dinner invitation so soon."

"Actually, I was about to discuss that with Liara but now that you're here I'd like you to be a part of the discussion." Garrus said as he bounced Benezia up and down, earning a giggle of joy from the child.

"All right, shoot." Shepard said, crossing her arms.

"I'm thinking about proposing to Tali. Thoughts?" Garrus blurted out to his unsuspecting audience.

Shepard's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, that's big! Absolutely go for it."

"Agreed you've known each other for a long time and there's no doubt in my mind she will accept." Liara said softly.

"You don't think it's too soon?" Garrus asked as Benezia ran her little fingers over his scar.

"Are you kidding? No way. You two have been at it since our wedding." Shepard reminded him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm a little nervous is all. " Garrus admitted.

"How were you planning on proposing?" Liara asked.

"Haven't thought about it yet. Figured I'd involve you two." Garrus answered.

Suddenly the Turian's omni-tool lit up with an incoming message. Liara took her daughter from Garrus's arms. Garrus opened the device and checked the message.

"Damn. The Primarch wants me to meet some Asari official in the center of town." He said, disappointed.

"Well, why don't you go take care of business and I'll grab some dextro food to prepare for dinner. We will see you tonight," Liara suggested.

"All right. Sorry about this, I'll be back soon. We'll discuss this over dinner." Garrus said, and hurried out the door.

Chapter 2

Jane Shepard sat on the couch rubbing a rag over her Avenger in an attempt to make it shine before locking it back in it's glass display case. It had been a long time since she had fired a gun and although part of her missed the action, she was in no hurry to break that streak.

Still some part of her paranoid brain made her keep some relics from her Military past. She still kept a set of N7 armor for herself and a separate set for Liara, and she maintained a full armory. It was all rather unnecessary however, the two women were very careful to find a home far enough away from the general population to not be bothered. Still, some part of Shepard kept her on edge from time to time, as if she expected the Reapers to return. Jane finished with the Assault Rifle returned it to the display as Liara joined her in the room.

"Benezia is finally asleep." Liara said, taking a seat next to Shepard.

"Good. I might need a haircut to even out the recent makeover she gave me. You game?"

Liara smirked. "You really want me to cut your hair?"

"Sure, why not? You did a good job last time and it's not like I'm going to find a barber on Thessia. Plus I'm tired of cutting it myself."

"All right, I suppose it's worth a try. Garrus just messaged me; he said he will be here soon."

"That gives us some time alone." Shepard said as her hand found it's way onto Liara's thigh.

Liara blushed. "We shouldn't, we could wake her." Liara demurred trying to deny Shepard's advances. But it only made Shepard want her more.

"I can be quiet. How about you?" Shepard said as she squeezed the Doctor's leg.

"I'm not sure; if it's anything like last time, then no."

Shepard giggled, "Well I guess we are gonna have to risk it." She replied as she leaned in for a kiss.

Their lips were almost together when a glowing blue orb appeared beside them.

"Doctor T'Soni, you have an urgent message from operative Feron." Glyph said.

Shepard let out a disappointed sigh, which Liara joined her in.

"Put him through to the monitor room Glyph. " Liara said before giving Shepard a quick peck on the lips. "We'll continue this in a moment."

"You know better than to tease me Liara."

Liara walked into her Broker command center. The room resembled her set up aboard the Normandy but on a much larger scale. Monitors lined the walls and a set of 4 consoles lay on the Doctor's desk. Liara took a seat in front of the consoles and opened the comm link with Feron. The vidscreen was nothing but static when the link was established. Liara narrowed her eyes and checked the signal. It was indeed connected to Feron's Omni-tool, but where was he? Suddenly the Drell's voice came through the speakers.

"Li…Liara?" Feron said, his voice sounded weak and his breath was labored.

Liara instantly shot up in her seat as she heard the pain in the Drell's voice. "Feron, what's wrong? Where are you?!" she shouted frantically.

The vidscreen finally connected properly and displayed an image of Feron. Liara wished it had remained static. The drell was severely beaten and was missing an eye.

"Goddess, Feron! What happened!?" Liara screamed. She wanted to cover her eyes but she was unable to pull her eyes away from the gruesome sight.

Shepard came running into the room when she heard her wife's screams. When she saw the vidscreen she didn't bother asking what was wrong.

"Liara…I'm sorry." Feron said. He was losing consciousness fast.

"Sorry? For what?" Liara demanded.

Feron coughed producing blood from his motuh. "I tried to stay quiet, but they were relentless. They know Liara…they know who and where you are."

Liara's eyes widened with fear. "What!?"

Shepard stepped up to the console. "Who's "they"?" she demanded.

"Not sure…batarians, some new info broker wannabe. But he's got a lot of men and money to finance them. …They're coming, you need to get out of there…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…." Feron said before a final exhale of breath left his mouth.

Liara placed her hands over her face and began to frantically pace around the room.

"Goddess I… I don't know what to do!" Liara said as panic over took her.

"Calm down! We need to think." Shepard said trying to calm her. But it wasn't working. Liara seemed to be hyperventilating.

Shepard pulled her by the hand into the kitchen. She poured her a glass of water and handed it to Liara who accepted it with shaking hands. Liara took several chugs from the drink and seemed to calm down a bit.

"Okay Liara, think. Who could be behind this? And how long do we have?" Shepard asked.

"I'm…I'm not sure. Nothing in my networks has found any reference of a batarian equipped to execute a plan such as this. Feron was in the Terminus System so perhaps we have enough time to…" Suddenly Liara's glass exploded coating both women in water.

It took a moment for Shepard to understand what had happened but she had already tackled Liara down to the kitchen floor before the next bullet came through the window. The kitchen erupted into a storm of debris as bullets began to fly through the windows and walls. Liara covered her face from the flying glass but Shepard was already full of adrenaline. She grabbed her wife's hand and crawled below the bullet paths, pulling the asari behind her.

The couple made their way into Benezia's room who was now crying loudly.

"I need to get to my gun. Keep her safe in here!" Shepard said and ran back into the living room before Liara could protest.

Shepard kept low, crawling on the ground until she could reach the display holding the old Avenger. The bullets had stopped flying for now but she wasn't taking any chances. She removed one of her shoes and used it to smash the glass containing the rifle and removed it. She rolled across the room and opened the stash of thermal clips she kept under the desk. As she loaded the clip into the gun, bullets resumed flying through the walls. Shepard was trying her best to remain calm under the pressure but it had been a very long time since she had been in a fight. Still, she was one of the best and she was confident she could take out a couple hired guns. She finished loading the weapon and waited for another pause in fire before making her way back to the kitchen.

The kitchen was almost unrecognizable now; it was a wasteland of broken glass and wood following the initial attack. Shepard flipped the rifle's scope open and carefully peered through the window to find the shooter. She got lucky the glare of the setting sun reflected off the scope of the shooter and Shepard let loose a hail of bullets that all hit their mark. She could hear the batarian cry out in pain as he rolled around on the ground outside the home. Shepard fired off another round to finish the job and the batarian's cries ceased.

Shepard knew that it wasn't over. There was no way a single shooter was hired to take down Liara but she saw no more contacts out the kitchen window. Shepard crept back to the front of the home. As Shepard took cover under the window that overlooked the front of the house Liara carefully opened Benezia's door and crawled to her side.

"What's the plan?" Liara asked. A piece of glass must have hit her face because a gash on her cheek was spewing purple blood.

"Keep Benezia in her room. Go grab yourself a rifle and two kinetic barriers from the closet in our room. Stay low and get back to me here." Shepard ordered. She was speaking in a voice she hadn't used in years, the voice of a Commander.

Liara instantly complied and crawled her way to the bedroom. She fumbled through their clothes and pulled out an old N7 Valkyrie and the two barriers Shepard kept.

Shepard was still crouched under the window when Liara returned. The Commander took her barrier from her and activated it.

"I spotted five contacts, all armed with either shotguns or heavy pistols."

"All right, how do we deal with them?" Liara asked, activating her own barrier and loading a thermal clip into her rifle.

Shepard peeked back out the window and noticed that the five batarians had begun to rally outside the couple's home. One of them made a point of stepping on her garden. She would kill him first.

"They are grouping outside for another attack. I'm gonna try and get them talking. Wait for me to make a move then hit them with a singularity and open fire." Shepard ordered.

"Wait! You're not going out there." Liara said, fearfully clutching Shepard's arm.

"We need to get all the information we can get from them. I've got an idea, Liara, I'll be fine. Just stick to the plan." Shepard made her move for the front door.

Shepard kicked the front door open and took cover from the inevitable stream of bullets that would follow the action. She waited for a break to speak up.

"I'm going to give you bug eyed freaks one chance to leave!" Shepard shouted.

An expected laugh came from the group outside.

"I don't think so, honey! Why don't you fork that asari bitch of yours over and we'll kill you and the baby quick. How's that sound?" The batarian ringleader hollered back.

"Well, how about you fulfill a dead woman's final request. Who sent you?" Shepard barked back.

"Killian Tagar sends his regards to the soon to be deceased Shadow Broker and her pet, the great Commander Shepard." The batarian replied.

Shepard was somewhat surprised that the fool actually answered the question.

"Good to know!" Shepard said, and turned into the doorframe, squeezing the trigger.

Liara reaction was almost instantaneous. The Asari had three of the goons trapped in a singularity while Shepard landed a precision shot into the forehead of the garden stomper. The batarian's head exploded into goo that coated her flowers before she moved her attention to the ringleader. Liara opened fire on the floating men before finishing them off with a warp detonation. Shepard peppered the shocked ringleader's kneecaps with four well-placed shots. The batarian dropped his weapon and fell the ground clutching his wounds.

Before the overly confident fool could regain his weapon Shepard was on top of him pressing all her weight into a stomp on the ringleader's wounds. He screamed in agony as Shepard turned him over to face her.

"Okay now we get to have a little chat. Killian Tagar; you're going to tell me everything you know about him, NOW!" Shepard demanded pointing her rifle in the batarian's face.

"I don't know him beyond being hired. He's a fellow batarian, it's the only reason I took the job. Rich, judging by his payment…and he hates both of you." The batarian grunted out.

_These guys really were amateurs_, Shepard thought. She didn't even get a chance to enjoy herself before he gave it all up. Before Shepard could think of a follow up question her shoulder erupted in a flash of crimson blood and pain rocked her body.

Before Shepard could completely assess her injury she rolled the ringleader on top of her and let him absorb the incoming shots. Soon the batarian stopped crying in pain and went limp on top of her.

"Shepard!" Liara screamed from inside the home. But Shepard couldn't think of words to reply.

Her arm burned and she could barely move it. She needed to seal the wound with medi-gel, and soon.

Shepard peered over the ringleader's corpse and spotted the charging batarian shooter. Liara attempted to hit the moving target but her vantage point was less than ideal.

_Stupid, how could you be so stupid? Of course there was a sixth man and now he's going to kill your dumb ass in front of your wife_, Shepard thought

Something high-pitched screeched from the sky and made the batarian stop in his tracks. Suddenly a skycar came crashing down from above on top of the remaining shooter splitting the Batarian's body in two.

The door to the wrecked skycar shot open, and Garrus Vakarain stumbled out and assessed the scene.

"Boy, I hope that was a bad guy." Garrus said.


	2. Part 2-Searching for Answers

Chapter 3

Jane Shepard rolled the dead Batarian off her and pressed her hand against her bleeding wound. Liara came running outside the house and slammed down on her knees beside Shepard.

"Goddess, Shepard, you're hurt!" she cried.

"It's nothing…" She replied, trying to brush it off but another wave of pain rocked her body. "Okay, maybe it hurts a little."

Garrus came rushing to her side.

"Garrus, we need to get her inside and treated immediately!" Liara ordered.

Garrus lifted her off the ground and brought her inside the couple's ruined home.  
Bullet holes painted the walls and almost every piece of furniture was ripped to pieces.

"Benezia…make sure she's safe!" Shepard cried out.

"She's alright, love. We need to get this shirt off you and apply medi-gel before it gets any worse." Liara replied.

Garrus carefully laid Shepard down on one of the ruined couches. Liara moved in and ripped Shepard's shirt open.

"Eyes are up here, Garrus," Shepard joked, but her voice was distant.

"Spirits Shepard, you got hit bad." The turian told her as he observed the gooey red wound in Shepard's shoulder.

Liara applied a large amount of medi-gel to the wound. Within seconds of application the gel began to fizzle and seal her wound. Ordinarily medi-gel was relatively painless to apply, but the deeper the wound the more pain it inflicted on the user when sealing open wounds. Shepard clenched her teeth and squeezed Liara's hand in pain while the gel worked it's magic. After the wound had been sealed painkillers coursed through her veins and Shepard found she was able to move her arm regularly, but not without a good deal of pain.

"We need to get you to a hospital, Shepard." Garrus said.

"Not an option. Bullet wound like this and the authorities would be all over me. And I don't really want to explain that I was shot by a group of mercs hired to assassinate my wife the Shadow Broker," she replied.

"Shepard…" Liara protested.

"It's not the first time I've been shot, guys. Just give the medi-gel a minute to do its thing and I'll be good as new. We need to think about our next move," she said.

"Next move? What exactly happened here?" Garrus asked.

"Some batarian goes by the name of Killian Tagar killed Feron, and tried to kill Liara and me. Feron said something about him being a rival information broker. One of our friends outside said he had a lot of men which means this attempt won't be the last," the Commander informed her turian friend.

"Killian Tagar? I've never heard of him," he said.

"I have. But I never would have imagined he would be involved in something like this." Liara said.

"Have you two met?" he asked.

"No. All I know is he was high up in the Hegemony until about a month before the Reaper invasion. He dropped off the grid and I suppose he got into the info broker business some time after," the asari said.

"And now he's trying to eliminate his biggest competitor." Shepard said with more strength in her voice. The medi-gel had kicked in.

"Then what does he want with you?" Garrus asked Shepard.

"Not sure. Maybe he just wanted to wipe out everyone home. Or maybe it's just because I'm human. Doesn't really matter." She answered.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm going to kill him. No one threatens my family," she replied.

"What do we do with Benezia? We can't take her with us," Liara asked.

"I know someone who can keep her safe and give us more intel on Killian but you might not like it. Garrus, did you come to Thessia on your own ship?" Shepard said.

"Yeah, small transport vessel. It has relay capabilities." The turian said.

"Perfect. Grab all the gear we have, Liara, both sets of armor and all the guns. Garrus help me clean this mess up outside before we leave," she ordered as she got to her feet.

"Where exactly are we going?" Her wife asked.

"We need to pay a visit to an old friend on Omega." Shepard said.

Chapter 4

Shepard felt her fingers fill her gloves as she finished suiting up in her old N7 armor. It had been some time since she had worn it but the suit still fit her perfectly. The journey to Omega had thankfully been uneventful but Shepard had not let her guard down for one minute of it and she didn't plan on stopping now that they were docked in one of the most dangerous stations in the Milky Way.

"Shepard, I don't like this. She might have information, but leaving Benezia with her is just crazy." Liara said as she finishing snapping her breastplate on.

"I know it sounds crazy, but Aria is the most secure person I know and she owes me. She can keep Benezia safe until we've finished this. And she knows everything that happens on Omega and in the Terminus; she can tell us where to find this Killian guy. And without your Broker resources that's information we can't get otherwise," Shepard lowered her helmet on to her head.

"It makes a strange sort of sense, Liara. Aria might be one of the most notorious criminals in the galaxy but she can keep things safe. She wouldn't have lasted this long otherwise," Garrus added.

"I suppose we don't have many other options," the asari admitted.

"Last thing we need is some merc looking for revenge right now, so it's best for you to sit this out Garrus. And there's no way we're leaving a ship in dock unattended with our daughter in it. Garrus, keep her safe," Shepard said as she stared at the sleeping asari baby in the corner.

"I promise. Just make this quick," he said.

Liara and Shepard didn't waste time getting to Afterlife. The batarian at the door recognized the Commander and signaled them to enter the club. Insults were thrown at the couple as they walked past the line and entered the tunnel. An asari dancer circled Shepard as they made their way to Aria's perch.

"Hey, you're that hero! I'll give you a dance for free," the asari said before scanning Shepard's body from top to bottom, "Maybe I'll give you more than a dance for free."

Liara pulled Shepard in close and shoved the dancer away. Aria sat with her legs crossed on her couch. There was no mistaking the surprise on her face when Liara and Shepard approached her.

"Well now, this is a surprise. Commander Shepard and Liara T'Soni. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Aria said with her signature sarcasm.

"I need to make a deal. It would be best if we spoke in private." Shepard replied.

Aria narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to one side as she thought over the idea. She decided she was interested to hear what brought Commander Shepard and her curious companion to be in need of her assistance. Aria dismissed her guards with a snap of her fingers.

"Fine. Speak quickly and don't waste my time," she said sharply.

"Well, less of a deal and more of a favor." Shepard admitted.

A smug smirk appeared on Aria's face. "You are asking me for a favor?"

"I need you to keep something very important safe and I need information," Shepard replied.

"And what exactly do you expect me to be keeping safe?"

"Our daughter," Liara said, breaking her silence.

Aria laughed. "Do I look like a fucking babysitter Shepard?"

"No, but I trust you to keep her safe," Shepard retorted.

"And what do I get in return?" Aria asked as she looked over Liara.

"I'm asking you as a friend," Shepard said.

Aria's attention immediately shot back to Shepard. Aria wasn't easily caught off guard but no one had referred to her as "friend" in over 5 centuries. She was confused by her feelings on the subject.

Aria bit her lower lip "Fine, I'll keep the kid safe. I'm curious, what makes you two desperate enough to leave your child in my protection?"

"We are being pursued by a batarian by the name of Killian Tagar. Know him?" Shepard said.

"Looking after your little rugrat is one thing. Information doesn't come cheap," Aria said plainly.

"What could I offer you, Aria?" Shepard asked.

"You? Nothing. Now the Shadow Broker, there's someone who might loosen my lips." Aria said grinning at Liara.

Liara squirmed. "How…" she began.

"Oh please. You should be careful which friends you reveal your secrets to, babe. Specifically your krogan friends. They tend to drink a lot at weddings."

"I can offer a constant stream of information for you, completely free of cost, if you help us," Liara promised.

"Well now, I believe we can do business. Yeah, I know Tagar. Nasty little bastard. He's been raising hell for me ever since I got back in power here. Likes to think himself an information broker and tried to do business with me not so long ago. He didn't take kindly to me kicking his bug-eyed ass off my station. He's been killing some of my men and recruiting others for his little batarian pride army he's growing. Really into 'Reclaiming Batarian Glory" and he roped a great deal of the four eyed creeps into joining him. I was planning on dealing with him myself, but I think you can handle him for me," Aria said.

"Know where we could find him?" Shepard asked.

"No. But I know where you could start. Some of his flunkies like to get drunk at a batarian bar in the lower markets. Look for one by the name of Taron. He could point you in Killian's direction,"

"What will you do with our daughter?" Liara asked.

"I'll keep her safe with me. I promise, nobody will lay a finger on her. But Shepard - don't expect this to happen again. And I expect you hold your end of the bargain T'Soni. It isn't wise to lie to me, " she added.

"Thank you, Aria," Shepard said.

"You should know Killian has got a lot of credits and men. It might not be wise to underestimate him," Aria warned.

"Noted," Shepard said, and took Liara's hand and headed for the stairs.

"Wait, Shepard….be careful." Aria said awkwardly.

Shepard smiled at the Pirate Queen. "Just make sure you keep her safe for our return."

Chapter 5

Shepard and Garrus made their way to the Batarian bar while trying to keep a low profile. Liara insisted on handing Benezia over to Aria herself, and Shepard didn't want her to see what she might have to do to this Taron, so she risked taking the turian with her. It had been some time since the whole "Archangel" business anyway. Shepard pulled Garrus over to the side to have a private word before entering the bar.

"Listen, Garrus, this might get ugly," she warned.

"Don't worry, Shepard, I'm not going to flinch. Lets go get this batarian bastard,"

As soon as the pair entered the bar a hushed silence overtook the crowd. The crowd was made up almost entirely of batarians with a couple vorcha huddled together in a dark corner of the establishment.

"What do you want, human?" the bartender barked.

"Looking for a man by the name of Taron. I was told he was here," Shepard said in a commanding voice.

"You were told right." A terrifyingly large batarian with a Carnifex strapped to his leg replied as he turned from the bar to face Shepard and Garrus. "But I have nothing to say to Commander Shepard."

"We can do this the easy way…" Shepard began.

"I choose the hard way!" Taron interrupted, drawing his pistol. Six fellow batarians followed his lead and aimed weapons at Shepard and Garrus. The rest of the crowd funneled out of the bar quickly.

Shepard scanned the scene. They were outnumbered and outgunned and Shepard felt fear begin to overtake her, but she didn't allow it. She looked to Garrus and gave him a nod. The turian dived under a table and Shepard pulled all her biotic capabilities into a powerful flare that she unleashed on the crowd. The blue explosion flung chairs and tables against the walls with enough force to shatter them and the batarians were all thrown on to their backs. Shepard took cover next to Garrus from the violent counter attack. Bullets whizzed in every direction and Shepard and Garrus didn't waste time equipping their own pistols.

"Well, this could have gone better!" Garrus quipped.

"Oh come on Garrus this will be fun!" Shepard replied.

Shepard pulled out from cover and squeezed her trigger. Her random shots found a target and hit one of the Batarians square in the chest. Shepard ducked back into cover.

"One down, six to go. Keep Taron alive!" Shepard ordered.

Garrus popped up and took down two unlucky batarians who were stupid enough to stand out in the open.

"Scratch two!" Garrus said as he crouched back down behind the table.

The remaining four batarians hunkered down behind the bar. Taron was barking orders at them ferociously. Suddenly something landed on the floor next to Shepard.

"Grenade! MOVE!" Shepard yelled.

The turian dashed across the bar and slid under another table, flipping it over for cover. Shepard launched another biotic blast at the batarians as she followed. The grenade exploded with a deafening boom. The explosion just barely caught Shepard, flinging her across the room. Her body skidded to a stop just out of Garrus's reach. The turian leaned out in the open and pulled the Commander safely into cover. He was relieved to see Shepard was still conscious.

"That hurt. I owe you." Shepard said as she loaded a fresh thermal clip into her pistol.

Garrus spotted another grenade being primed by one of the batarians and without thinking he sprang out of cover and nailed the thrower in the head. The grenade fell to the ground, and Taron leaped over the bar and covered his head. The remaining batarians were blown to bits as the grenade exploded. Taron didn't skip a beat - he was on his feet and running out the door without even looking back.

"Damnit! I'm going after him. Try and find a way to get in front of him!" Shepard ordered and sprinted after him.

He was fast, Shepard had to admit, but she was chasing after him faster than she had ever sprinted before in her life. The marketplace was full of people who stared in awe of the foot chase. Shepard was forced to throw them out of her way as she pursued her target. Shepard fired into the air in an attempt to get the motionless crowd to disperse. Taron fired behind him blindly catching an innocent human girl in the shoulder. Rage filled Shepard and she flung a biotic throw at the sprinting batarian which knocked him off his feet. Taron face planted and his gun skidded away from him.

The batarian got to his feet and spun around to face his attacker, but before he could react Shepard hit him in the nose with a strong punch. Shepard felt the crunch of bone in Taron's face. Blood poured out of his face as he counterattacked with a wide hook that caught her in the ribs. Shepard ignored the pain and took hold of the batarian's extended arm and bent it away from his body breaking it. Taron screamed in pain and Shepard kicked his feet out from under him slamming him back down on to the ground.

"Do you have something to say to me now?" Shepard asked the whimpering batarian.

Taron spit blood in her face and Shepard rewarded his gesture with a stomp to the groin.

"Killian Tagar - you're going to tell me where to find him, now!" She ordered, wiping the blood from her face.

The batarian laughed. "You think you can take down Tagar, human? You are a fool!" Taron wheezed.

"That didn't sound like an answer!" Shepard said, bringing her glowing fist back for a powerful punch.

"I'll tell you where he is. Not that it will make a difference." Taron said quickly, eyeing Shepard's fist.

"I'm listening," she barked back.

Taron smiled revealing bloodied teeth. "Killian works out of a compound…on Khar'shan,".

Shepard brought her fist down on Taron, knocking him out. "Well…shit."

Shepard removed Taron's omni-tool from his motionless body just as Garrus caught up with her. The turian was panting heavily.

"Looks like you got him. He tell you what you wanted to know?" He asked.

"He told me where Killian is, but it's not what I wanted to hear. We're heading for the batarian homeworld," she answered.


	3. Part 3- Down Time

Chapter 6

Liara was still sifting through Taron's omni-tool for more intel as Garrus brought the ship out of dock from Omega.

"Well that went pretty well all things considered," Shepard said from the co-pilots chair.

"I still don't like leaving Benezia with Aria."

"I know but what choice do we have? She'll keep her safe. Did you find any more info in the omni-tool?"

"Yes, Taron was not lying. Killian does indeed work out of a large structure in the northern region of Khar'shan. I'm uploading the coordinates to the navigation systems now. The building is guarded at all hours by a rather exorbitant number of men. I recommend going in silently, however I recognize that this may be difficult for you two."

"Are you saying I can't be subtle, Liara?" Shepard chuckled.

"So, anyone have an idea as to what to expect when we get to Khar'shan?" Garrus asked.

"Information on the planet has been spotty, and that's putting it mildly. Even before the invasion getting any kind of intel on the planet was nearly impossible. What little I have heard points to severe devastation," Liara replied.

"I'd anticipate things to be in rough shape," Shepard added.

"It's been over two years, you really think things are still that bad?" Garrus asked as he set the ship's course to the coordinates Liara uploaded.

"Not sure, but I'd say expect the worst."

"Going up against the unknown, outgunned and outnumbered… just like old times." Garrus said.

Shepard chuckled at the turian, "I have to admit I kinda missed this, feels good to be back in action."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Garrus agreed.

"Well, I'm glad you two are having such a good time."

"Oh come on, Liara, you know you missed this."

Liara crossed her arms and glared at Shepard before letting out a defeated sigh. "Oh fine… a bit, yes."

Shepard turned to face the pilot. "Garrus, we haven't properly thanked you for all you've done for us today. So, thank you."

"Yes, thank you Garrus. Goddess knows where we would be had you not arrived."

"Don't mention it; I'm just glad I was there to help." Garrus said.

Liara let out a loud yawn.

"If you two don't mind I'm going to try and get some rest before we enter the batarian system." Liara said exhausted.

"I think me and Garrus can manage. Sleep tight."

Liara gave Shepard a quick kiss and headed back into the small bunkhouse.

Chapter 7

Shepard's eyelids began to feel heavy as she struggled to stay awake. She and Garrus had been piloting the ship for several hours and they were fast approaching Khar'shan.

Her voice cracked as she spoke, "Alright, Garrus, we need to talk about something or I'm going to be asleep at the wheel here."

"Sure, You have anything in mind?"

"Tell me about Tali. You said you were going to propose?"

"Thinking about it."

"What's stopping you?"

"I don't know. It's a big commitment."

"Are you kidding me? After everything we've been through, you're scared of commitment?"

Garrus checked his console as he spoke, "Well was it that easy for you?"

"Absolutely."

"Maybe that's just it. It isn't that easy for me. Maybe that means it's a mistake."

"If you're expecting me to talk you out of getting married, you are going to be very disappointed. These last two years have been the best of my life. Sure the action is great, and I miss it every now and then, but none of it comes close to having someone by your side every day of your life. Garrus, you deserve that. Tali deserves that."

"I know. It's just - I've been living in the past so long, thinking about the future this much is…different."

Suddenly the navigation system lit up.

"Looks like we're almost there," Garrus said as he checked the consoles.

"I'll go wake sleeping beauty."

Liara was passed out on the bare cot in the small bunkhouse of the vessel. The asari's hands were placed under her head forming a makeshift pillow. Shepard listened to the doctor's soft inhale of breath. She almost felt guilty for waking her but it didn't stop Shepard from gently shaking her awake. Liara's eyes fluttered open.

Shepard smiled. "Good morning."

"Are we there?"

The asari's question was overshadowed by a deafening boom. Liara shot up out of bed and got to her feet just in time for a second shockwave to knock her off balance. Shepard reached out and grabbed her falling companion and dragged her into the cockpit.

"Garrus! What the hell is happening?!"

"Batarians don't seem too happy with us in orbit around their homeworld. You girls better strap in!"

Shepard peered out through the view ports and spotted three fighter vessels in striking positions.

"Have you tried communicating with them?" Liara asked frantically.

"They won't respond. I meant what I said; get in a safety harness now!"

The turian activated his own and Shepard and Liara took their seats. Shepard made sure Liara was strapped in before deploying her own, a decision which would cost her. A third strike hit their ship and the entire vessel shifted.

"Inertial dampeners are offline! We're going down! Hold on, this is going to hurt!"

As the ships balance shifted Shepard was ripped from her seat. Liara reached out in an attempt to grab the commander's hand but Jane slid across the cockpit and slammed into the bulkhead. Shepard let out a pained scream. The ship shifted again flinging Shepard into the air and smashing her back on the ceiling before crashing her back down to the ground. Liara was screaming her name and something else that she couldn't make out. The ship balanced out for a moment and she scrambled to her seat next to Liara. This time she didn't waste a second getting her harness on. Already her body ached but it wasn't over yet.

"Tracking an incoming missile. Brace for impact!" Garrus yelled.

An overwhelming blast struck the ship. Shepard felt her hand being grabbed by Liara's. The asari desperately squeezed her hard and Shepard could feel the fear in her grip. She wanted to offer her more support than her hand but she had none to give; Shepard couldn't deny her own fear, so she did all she could and squeezed her hand back. Garrus was frantically attempting to regain control of the dying vessel as it plummeted towards the planet's surface.

As the ship passed through Khar'shan's atmosphere the vessel shook violently. All three passengers bounced around forcefully as the ship inched closer and closer to impact. Garrus was able to regain control of the ship's thrusters and let out a wail of joy, but his celebration was premature. Control of the ship returned too late to make a full recovery. The ship crashed down hard kicking up a massive plume of debris as it skidded to a stop. Inside all three passengers were shaken fiercely before the skidding ship came to a sudden stop. The abrupt halt furiously whipped Shepard's head forward and back striking it against the hard back of the seat.

Shepard's vision began to dim and the deafening sounds of the crash became muffled. An unmistakable warm flow of blood began to drench the back of her head. She could hear Liara crying out in pain and screaming her name and saw Garrus slouched motionless in the pilot's seat before she lost consciousness.


	4. Part 4- Crash Site

Chapter 8

The ship sat in a steaming heap. The crash had carved a jagged scar into the planet's surface and sat nestled inside a heavily forested area. Inside, Liara T'Soni struggled to get out of her harness. Emergency lighting bathed the cockpit in a dark red light. Debris was scattered about and loose cables hung from the ceiling. Beside her Jane Shepard was lying limp with her head hanging down, exposing the bleeding wound on the back of her skull. Garrus was in no better shape; the turian was slumped over stiffly in the pilot's chair and was facing away from Liara.

Finally her harness unbuckled and she was free. Immediately Liara moved to aid Shepard. She fearfully pressed two fingers against Jane's neck and felt for a pulse. For a second that seemed to last for an hour Liara felt nothing, but soon an unmistakable thump of Shepard's beating heart could be felt.

Liara let out a sigh of relief, "Thank the goddess."

Liara scrambled back into the bunkhouse and dragged out her bag of supplies. Thankfully the guns and medi-gel survived the crash, and the asari pulled the gel out of the bag. Liara pried Shepard's hair - which had become sticky and matted with blood - out of the way as best she could. She applied a glob of gel to Shepard's wound and watched it seal just to make sure. Liara moved over to Garrus.

Blood ran down the turian's face from a gash on Garrus's forehead. Liara was unsure as to how to apply medi-gel to a turian properly so she just applied another glob to the bleeding face wound. Thankfully the wound seemed to seal correctly and the bleeding stopped.

Liara then turned her attention to herself. The asari ran her hands across her entire body searching for injuries and luckily found nothing major. She was relieved she didn't have to waste any more of their limited supply of medi-gel.

Her luck didn't last however. A loud, beastly growl penetrated the silence from outside: the unmistakable call of a varren. A large tear in the ship exposed the cockpit to the outside world and Liara watched in terror as three large and feral varren made their way inside.

Before Liara could reach for a weapon one of the beasts was on top of her. She wrapped her hands around the creatures large fangs and desperately fought to get it off her. Its paws were pressed against her torso pinning her to the ground with its heavy weight. She smelled the varren's foul breath as spit and drool drenched her face. Liara pulled her energy into a powerful biotic throw which flung the creature against the bulkhead and shattered its spine killing it instantly.

Before Liara could celebrate her victory a second varren charged at her. She caught it in a singularity and finished it quickly with a detonation. The final varren dodged the warp she flung at it and was closing fast. The beast lurched at her and Liara dived out of its path. As the varren made its way back towards Liara she braced herself preparing herself for another powerful biotic attack. Five gunshots silenced the charging varren and its body fell to the ground and skidded to a stop at Liara's feet.

Shepard lowered her shaking arm which gripped an M-77 Paladin, a wisp of smoke trailing from the barrel. The weakness in Shepard's eyes was unmistakable but she was beginning to regain some strength as she scanned the damaged cockpit.

"And they say every landing is a happy one," Shepard grunted.

Liara raced to her side. "Shepard! How are you feeling?"

"Like the morning after shore leave." Shepard tried to chuckle but it made her ribs sting with pain. "How's Garrus?"

"I'm not sure. You were both out when I got free of my harness. I applied medi-gel but I don't know, Shepard."

Shepard got to her feet and made her way to the turian's side. Every step she made caused her whole body to ache. Jane stripped Garrus's chest plate off and pressed her ear against the turian's bare torso. She smiled when she heard the soft pound of his heart.

"He's alive, thank god. We need to figure out where we are and what our next move is. We'll move when he wakes up."

"And if he doesn't?" Liara asked regretfully.

"He will."

Chapter 9

Night had fallen quickly and the trees outside the crashed ship were now shrouded in darkness. Shepard stood guard outside with rifle in hand while inside Liara attempted to get a read on where they ended up with her omni-tool.

Shepard wasn't afraid of the dark but she certainly didn't like it. Every rustle that echoed throughout the forest made Shepard jump. It was more than fear of the dark that made her jumpy. She had been caught off guard. Her eagerness to stop Killian had put her, Garrus and worst of all Liara in danger and it left Shepard feeling something she hadn't in a long time: vulnerable.

Garrus had still not woken up and Shepard was beginning to worry about him. She would never forgive herself if this mess had cost Garrus his life; and she knew it was nobody's fault but her own. She forced such thoughts from her mind. Just thinking about the possibility made her feel as if she was helping to make it a reality.

"Shepard, could you come in here? I think I found something," Liara called from inside the ship.

Shepard gave a quick scan of the darkness and headed back inside. Liara was hunched over the ship's navigation systems, which the asari had somehow gotten to work.

"What'd you find?"

Liara stood up, "The systems say we are just about 9 kilometers shy of the coordinates I pulled from Taron's omni-tool. The ship must have locked on to the coordinates before the crash. We could get there by foot in a matter of hours. But with Garrus in his current state travel will be an issue."

"And it's far too dangerous to travel at night. We'll sleep here tonight and hopefully Garrus will be better in the morning. Any idea why the batarians attacked us?"

"Perhaps they were Killian's men."

"Seems likely. Well, we aren't going anywhere until the sun rises, get some rest. I'll go watch outside."

Shepard turned to go back outside but Liara's hand caught her and turned her around.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Liara asked, her brow wrinkled with worry marks as she stared into Shepard's green eyes.

"This whole thing was a mistake. I should have never put you two in danger like this."

"It's my fault, not yours. I should be the one doing this, not you two." Liara retorted.

"It's my job to protect you and Benezia. Instead we ended up with our home destroyed, Benezia with Aria T'Loak and a crazy batarian trying to kill us everywhere we turn. This whole thing is a goddamn mess."

"It's not your job to protect me."

"Yes it is, Liara. The reality is that you're going to be around for Benezia a lot longer than me. I need to keep you safe for both your sakes."

Liara frowned. "Shepard, that's not fair. You know I hate it when you talk like that."

"It's the truth…"

"No it isn't." Liara said. She was tired of holding on to this secret. Shepard had a right to know.

"What?"

"That...that isn't true."

Shepard narrowed her eyes trying to figure out what her wife was talking about. "What isn't true?"

"You're going to be around for Benezia a lot longer than you think." Liara admitted.

"Liara, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Miranda Lawson..."

"What about her?"

"She told me on our wedding night that during the Lazarus project they changed you."

"Changed me? Liara you're not making sense. Changed me how?"

"She told me that when they rebuilt you she made it so that you would live to be over 250 years old and that you would age more than twice as slow as a regular human."

Shepard was silent as she stared at her wife with a look of complete confusion and disbelief. "I...250 years?"

"Yes."

"If this is true. Why keep this from me?"

"Miranda said that it would change you. That it would somehow make you not the woman that you used to be. The woman that I fell in love with. But she's wrong."

Shepard backed away from Liara and made her way for the outside. "I don't how I'm supposed to react to this."

"You're going to get to see Benezia grow up. This is a good thing. I was depressed for months until Miranda told me this. Shepard, you and Benezia are my whole world I can't imagine living without either of you."

"Yeah, It's good news..."

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's just a lot to process." Shepard said, her voice hushed and distant.

Liara pulled her into a hug. "I know love." when they separated Shepard's disbelief and confusion had turned over to happiness.

"Thank you for telling me. I still need to stand guard. Make sure you check on Garrus before you go to bed. I'll be outside. Come get me if you need anything."

As Liara watched Shepard walk back outside she wanted to stop her again but she had no words to do so. She had held on to that secret for far too long and while Shepard didn't exactly take it how she had expected she was glad she finally told her. However some part of her wondered if Miranda was right to not tell her.

Liara moved to check on Garrus. She had propped the unconscious turian up against one of the walls and had been checking on him periodically. She was relieved to see that he seemed to be breathing with a bit more strength than she last checked, however he had still not woken up. She hated to admit it but leaving Garrus behind was becoming a very real possibility. She knew Shepard would never support it but it was only a matter of time before someone came to investigate the crash site; in fact, Liara found it odd that it hadn't happened already.

"Please wake up, Garrus," Liara pleaded.

Liara had an idea that in truth she didn't expect to work, but she was desperate. She pulled her hand back and slapped the turian across the face. Garrus's eye's jolted open and he immediately launched into a coughing fit.

Garrus shook his head clear and made eye contact with Liara. "Ow!"

Liara smiled in disbelief and pulled him in for a hug. The embrace was less than enjoyable to the very sore Garrus, who groaned in pain as the asari pulled him in close. Shepard heard the sound of the turian's voice and came running back inside the crashed ship.

"Garrus!" Shepard shouted in disbelief and came rushing to his side as Liara pulled away much to Garrus's delight.

"Shepard, how long was I out?"

"More than a couple of hours. How do you feel?" Liara asked.

"Like hell. But I'm alive."


	5. Part 5- Khar'Shan

Chapter 10

A heavy rain beat down on Khar'Shan. The trio had no trouble navigating their way out of the forest, but could now spot in the distance the tops of skyscrapers. A large hill which they were now climbing was all that stood between them and a clear view of their destination. Shepard felt her boots dig into the muddy ground beneath her as she climbed. When the three finally made their way to the vantage point they all stood in shock.

The batarian city was in complete ruin. Even from far away Shepard could see the extent of the damages that the war had on Khar'Shan. The skyscrapers they saw from miles away were barren and crumbling and in some cases completely collapsed into massive piles of debris. But the city's state of decay was not what took Shepard's breath away. Amongst the city ruins over half a dozen derelict Sovereign class Reaper corpses littered the ruins. Some simply lying face down in craters, others half propped up by the crumbling buildings.

Shepard felt her heart race and an unexplainable fear filled her body, making her blood run cold as she stared at the Reaper corpses. She had not seen one since waking up from her coma and hoped to never again.

"I guess you were right, Shepard. This place is completely destroyed. You think the whole planet is like this?" Garrus asked.

"It's a safe bet," Liara said and looked to Shepard who was frozen with her eyes glued to the Reaper. "Shepard, are you okay?"

Shepard's reply was a distant "Yes" which neither Garrus nor Liara believed.

"We will have to pass through the ruins, Killian's complex is a few kilometers straight ahead. Will you be alright?" Liara asked with concern as she eyed her wife.

"I'll be fine. Lets go."

The city did not look any better once they had moved inside it. Decomposing corpses of husks, cannibals, brutes and other Reaper creatures littered the ground, accompanied by the remains of unfortunate batarian civilians. The number of corpses was staggering; it was a chore for Shepard to not step on dead bodies as she moved. In most cases the corpses were far too decayed to even identify if they were reaper or batarians, but some were more recognizable than others. Shepard even saw the remains of batarian children, their tiny bodies collapsed upon each other with their decomposing flesh melding into an even more horrific sight.

Liara turned her face away in disgust at the mound of dead children but Shepard couldn't pull her eyes from the sight as they moved passed it. The smell was overwhelming, forcing them to bury their faces in their free hands as they made their way through. The entire city was completely silent, which made Shepard feel even more on edge as they waded their way through the bloodied streets.

They were almost halfway through, when all of a sudden a wave of nausea overtook Shepard and she felt vomit come creeping up her throat. She quickly distanced herself from the group and hid herself behind a corner and fell to her knees as she threw up on the pavement.

She never imagined it would be this bad. She knew the batarians were hit hard but she never expected to see the horrors that she witnessed inside the city. She wiped her mouth clean and stood back up before rejoining the group.

Shepard saw in Liara's eyes that she was concerned but neither woman wanted to open their mouths to speak inside the decaying city, so they pressed on. Eventually the group found themselves the base of one of the derelict Reapers whose corpse laid across the entire street casting a massive shadow over them. Its massive weight was resting on a half collapsed building, creating a narrow gap that they could squeeze under. All three of them crawled inside the cramped passage and made their way to the other side. Once they were finally through Shepard let out the breath she realized she had been holding.

Before them lay a clear view of Killian's compound in the distance. It was the only thing Shepard had seen intact on the batarian homeworld since arriving. Even from their distant vantage point Shepard could see an army of guards patrolling the large walls that were constructed to protect Killian's palace.

"Getting inside quietly is going to be difficult," Shepard said.

Garrus crossed his arms. "Yeah, but going in loud is practically suicide."

"Agreed. I know it's not going to be easy, Shepard, but we have to try to get in and out with as little fuss as possible." Liara added.

"Yeah, you're right. Okay, heres the plan. Liara, you and I will infiltrate the compound from the east. Garrus, while we're doing that I want you to find a high vantage point. Cover us with your sniper rifle and be our eyes. Hopefully you're as good of a shot as I remember. Once we're inside make your way to us, we may have to be radio silent, so track us by our omni-tools if you have to. Once we're in, we find Killian, kill him and get out without anyone knowing we were here."

"Assuming we don't get our asses killed in there, how exactly are we getting off world after this is done?" Garrus asked.

Shepard hadn't thought about it until the turian brought it up. "We'll just have to worry about that later."

"Well, I couldn't possibly imagine this going wrong. Okay, see you guys inside. Good luck," Garrus said and made his way to position.

Shepard looked to Liara. "Are you ready?"

"After you, love."

Chapter 11

As Shepard and Liara crept their way up to the wall Shepard felt her nerves begin to enflame. So far things had gone less than ideally and she had little reason to suspect that things were finally going to start turning around. Garrus gave them the all clear and Shepard swallowed her nerves and cupped her hands together and squatted down.

"Alright, I'll give you a boost. Help me up when you're on top."

Liara put her hands on Jane's shoulders and her feet in the pocket Shepard made with her hands. Shepard tensed her knees and boosted the asari up the wall. Liara scrambled on top of the structure and stretched one arm down to her wife. Shepard jumped and luckily caught her hand on the first try. Liara tugged hard and lifted Jane up over the wall, and they silently crept behind cover after they jumped down inside.

"How's it look, Garrus?" Shepard whispered into her comm.

"You're clear."

The couple moved across the open yard outside the main structure towards the entrance.

"Wait! Hide! Three guys coming around the corner," Garrus radioed.

Liara pulled Shepard behind a large shipping crate and waited for the patrol to pass. That's when something caught Shepard's eye. A large shuttle docked not 30 feet from them.

"That's our ticket out of here," she whispered as she turned Liara's attention to the parked vessel.

"We'll worry about that after we deal with the matter at hand. Are we clear, Garrus?"

"You're good, move."

The pair scurried towards the structures entrance. Shepard prepared to override the door but was surprised to find it open. The couple stealthily moved inside and suddenly Shepard's nerves returned; something wasn't right. Killian's men shot them down and didn't even investigate the crash site which was only a few kilometers away from his compound - which he keeps unlocked. Not to mention three gunships were more than equipped with enough firepower to completely destroy their transport vessel before it even broke atmosphere, but instead they all survived the crash. Either he was really stupid, or more likely, she was. She had made a mistake. Quickly she pulled Liara back towards the door. The asari turned around to face Shepard and when she looked into her eyes the doctor understood what they had done wrong.

"Garrus, hold your position we're aborting." Shepard whispered but the comm. There was nothing but static now.

Shepard returned to the door they came in to find its display now red and the door locked. A cold shiver of terror rocked Shepard's body; they were trapped. Shepard pulled out her rifle and extended the barrel and turned to address Liara. Before she could open her mouth the hard fist of a large batarian smashed into her face and struck her in the nose. Shepard smacked on to the ground and her gun skidded away. The face plant had made her bite down on her tongue and now her bloody face was accompanied by a blood filled mouth. Jane spit some of the hot blood out and turned to deliver a biotically charged punch to her attacker, but before she could another punch hit her in the gut and a firm grasp tightened around the back of her hair and pulled her back down to the ground with a fierce smash.

Shepard was seeing double. She frantically scanned the room looking for Liara and saw the asari being treated with the same kindness the batarians had shown her. Two smaller batarians were beating the doctor as she desperately threw punches which sometimes landed on her attackers enraging them more. One of the asari's attackers raised his fist back and knocked Liara out with a stern punch. Liara's limp body collapsed on the floor.

Shepard shot to her feet and smashed her fist hard into the large batarian's face. The brute stumbled back and brought his hands to his face. Shepard brought another punch into his exposed gut but before she could land another attack three more batarians joined in. Jane was confused and terrified, knowing that her life was about to end and that there was nothing she could do to help Liara. She threw herself at her new combatants but she could only delay the inevitable for so long. She was quickly overwhelmed and found herself on the ground, being kicked by all three, before a stern boot knocked her out cold.


	6. Part 6- Meet Killian Tagar

Chapter 12

Killian Tagar sat in silence admiring his captives. He had strung the Shadow Broker up by her ankles and hung her three feet off the ground. He watched as blood slowly dripped from her face and formed a tiny mirror on the ground. But the Broker was only half of his prize. Collapsed on the ground lay Commander Shepard. He wanted to stomp her head in right then, but Killian was a patient man, and he wasn't about to deny himself the slow painful death Shepard deserved and he so wanted to give her.

Killian was a cautious man and he was not one to underestimate his enemies- something he certainly considered Shepard to be- so he kept two brutish-looking guards inside his chamber with him.

He had been looking forward to this moment for what seemed like a lifetime. Now that it had arrived, Killian's whole body shook with anticipation. He wasn't normally prone to violence. Indeed, Killain had never killed someone himself, but he was more than willing to set his ethics aside for her.

Shepard's eyes fluttered open. As she flexed the muscles in her face she felt the sticky residue of the dried blood that stained her skin. Immediately she tried to throw a biotic flare but she was rewarded with a painful burn and looked down to find both her hands clamped into a biotic dampener. Jane's eyes shot in every direction rapidly as she tried to assess where she was, and why she was still alive. Shepard let out a cry of horror when she saw Liara strung up beside her. A smile curled on Killian's lips as he watched the commander.

"What the hell is this?!" Shepard snarled.

"Justice long overdue, Commander," Killian replied.

"Let her go!" Shepard's voice was desperate as she pleaded with the batarian. "I'm the one you want, I'm the broker, she's just my wife, please let her go!"

"Please. You are not the broker, but you are right; you are the one I want." A toothy grin appeared on Killian's face that chilled Shepard to her core.

"Wha…what do you mean?"

Killian stood from his seat and delivered a powerful slap to Jane's face which slammed her back down, making her cry out in pain as her head struck the metal floor. Liara's eyes shot open when she heard Shepard's cries.

"Shepard! Tagar, please stop this!" Liara cried but speaking was difficult as her head pounded from a combination of the beating she received and being hung upside down for so long.

"Ah! Doctor T'Soni, excellent timing. I was hoping you'd be awake for the first cut."

Tagar grinned, making Shepard twitch. The batarian dug his hand into a bag on the floor and pulled out a large serrated knife.

"Why are you doing this?" Shepard asked eyeing the blade.

"Because you took everything I ever loved from me, Commander."

"What are you talking about?"

Shepard's question enraged Tagar and the batarian lunged at her and brought the blade to her throat.

"You destroyed the Bahak system! You killed my wife and infant daughters! And the whole galaxy just forgot! They call you a hero! A "savior of the galaxy", but you're nothing but a murderer!" Killian screamed digging the knife slightly into Shepard's flesh and coating the edge with blood.

"I destroyed the system to stop the Reapers!" Shepard shouted.

"Yes, "to stop them". Well, you saw Khar'Shan first hand, Shepard. It seems like you did a magnificent job. My planet lies in ruin, and my people are a dying race! Our entire civilization was completely destroyed by the Reapers! So you expect me to forgive you? To what, say that my family's sacrifice was justified? Every day you spend with your family is another I cannot with mine! You know nothing of pain, Commander! To outlive everyone you've ever loved and to see their killer revered as a hero."

"Listen, I'm sorry! If there had been a way to save them I would have!"

"Don't waste my time with apologies. Your empty words will not bring back my loved ones. The Broker was business but you Commander, are pleasure. You couldn't believe my excitement when I discovered that my biggest competitor was married to the woman who destroyed my life. And now I'm going to show you just what it feels like to outlive your family right before I kill you."

Killian unbuckled Shepard's breastplate and threw it across the room. The batarian licked his lips as he stared at Jane's bare flesh before her brought his knife to her skin and carved a long slice from shoulder to shoulder. Shepard gritted her teeth but would not give him the satisfaction of a scream as he slowly dragged the blade through her flesh.

"Please, stop!" Liara pleaded.

Tears streamed from her eyes and ran down the upside-down asari's forehead.

Killian sloppily pried the knife from Shepard's body and stood up. He brought the knife up to his lips and licked the blood off with his pointed tongue.

"So, what, you're just going to kill us?" Shepard grunted, trying to overcome the pain of her bleeding chest.

"Of course. But why stop with you two? I did find it rather surprising that you would leave your infant daughter in the care of the galaxy's most notorious criminal. Aria has been a pain in my side for far too long. I really should thank you for giving me the extra push to take her down. Don't worry, the child will die quickly."

Killian flipped a switch on the wall and the large steel wall behind him revealed itself to be a view port. Shepard's eyes widened with terror. They weren't on Khar'Shan anymore. They were on a ship in orbit of Omega. But their ship was one of many. An entire batarian war fleet accompanied them with guns aiming at the station.

"I've spent the last two years amassing this fleet. The last remnants of my people, fighting to take back their place in this galaxy. Or die trying."

Shepard shot back up. "I'm going to kill you!"

Killian slapped Jane back to the ground.

"You've done enough killing, Commander. But I'm just getting started." Killian said.

The batarian snapped his fingers and another guard dragged in a severely beaten Garrus. The guard slammed the turian on to the ground next to Shepard.

"I hope you weren't holding out hope that your friend here was on his way to save you two." Killian chuckled.

"Garrus!" Liara cried.

The turian coughed producing blood from his mouth.

"Shepard, maybe we should have had a plan B," Garrus wheezed.

"Your friend killed twelve good men of mine. I think he deserves a little extra punishment."

Killian seized the Turian's left arm and stretched it out forcing Garrus's hand open. Tagar raised his blade above his head. Garrus shut his eyes.

"Stop! Please don't!" Shepard cried out.

Killian ignored her and brought the blade down full force, severing one of Garrus's fingers. Blood poured out of the wound and Garrus pulled his arm back cradling the bleeding stump.

"In case you haven't realized it, Shepard: no one is coming to save you. I'm going to kill you, your wife, your friends, and your child. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Killian moved towards the door.

"But I'm not about to tire myself out. Men, soften them up for me. I'll be back soon Shepard, and we'll pick up where we left off. But in the meantime, I have a station to seize." The batarian brought up his comm. and hailed the entire war fleet. "Begin the bombardment. Take Omega down and find me Aria T'Loak and the child. For Khar'Shan." He closed his omni-tool and disappeared into the corridor.

The guards moved towards them, cracking their knuckles and smiling, revealing rows of pointed teeth. Garrus took the first hit, a stern kick to the head. The second guard brought his fist back and smacked Shepard hard. Shepard wasn't even thinking of the beating she was taking; her eyes were glued to the view port. She watched as the fleet's cannons began firing upon the station. She could do nothing but hope that Aria was able to keep Benezia safe until she could somehow get there.

Shepard's attention returned to the guards when she heard Liara cry out in pain. One of the batarians was using the dangling asari like a punching bag, bombarding her stomach with punches. The other was on top of Garrus and pounding his face in with hit after hit on the dazed turian. It was the final straw for Shepard.

Killian was right. Nobody was coming to help them, so it was up to her. She didn't care that she would probably be gunned down, she would not stand by and watch them hurt Liara. She'd rather go down fighting than watch the woman she loved be slowly beaten to death.

Shepard shot to her feet and swung the dampener clamped around her hands like a makeshift club and caught Liara's attacker in the back of the head. The batarian's skull cracked and he flopped to the ground. Before he could ready his gun Shepard brought the dampeners down hard on his head splitting it open like a pumpkin.

The second guard stopped pummeling Garrus, pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the now blood-soaked commander. Garrus brought his good hand to the batarian's exposed throat and squeezed until he felt his neck crack. Garrus threw the dead guard off him and shakily got to his feet.

"Garrus, get these things off me," Shepard ordered raising her cuffed hands to him.

Garrus released Shepard's hands from the dampener. Shepard wasted no time freeing Liara and she carefully helped the asari to her feet.

"Are you alright, Liara?" Shepard asked in concern.

Liara pressed her hands against her aching stomach and winced. "I've been better."

"What about you Garrus?" Shepard said.

"I'll live," he grunted.

"We have to get onto the station and get Benezia out of there!"

Liara's voice was pained as she spoke. "Aria is probably in Afterlife."

"Agreed. We'll find a way onto Omega, get to Afterlife, find Aria, and get Benezia out before the entire place is destroyed."

Shepard picked up her discarded chest plate. Her chest wound stung as the armor snapped into place and put pressure on the bleeding wound.

"What about Killian?" Liara asked.

"After she's safe we finish him once and for all." Shepard said.

Liara winced again. "But how are we going to get to Omega? This whole ship is full of Killian's men and we have no plan."

Garrus limped over to the bag Killian left behind and found what he had hoped for. Liara and Shepard's helmets along with their weapons "I have a plan," the turian grunted.

Chapter 13

"Can we talk about this for a moment?" Shepard protested as she checked to make sure her suit was sealed before securing her breather mask.

"He's right Shepard. It's the only way we can get to the station. We can't take out an entire ship."

"But we're leaving you behind, Garrus! We could find an escape shuttle or something!"

"Any shuttles would be shot out of the sky either by Omega's defense cannons or the fleet. We have to do this Shepard." Liara said heavily.

"You have a daughter to save Shepard. And there's only two suits. I wouldn't be much help anyway," he said raising his injured hand. "Just make sure she's safe."

"We will. Thank you, Garrus," Liara said.

Shepard moved in close to the turian and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to do this."

"I want to."

Shepard hugged the turian. "Goodbye Garrus."

"Not necessarily goodbye. Maybe I'll take the whole damn ship down." He chuckled.

"Maybe you will."

"You know me Shepard, I'm hard to kill."

Garrus exited the room and sealed the safety airlocks behind him.

Liara looked to Shepard. "Are you ready?"

Shepard raised her pistol at the viewport and Liara raised her own. Shepard reached towards Liara with her free arm and the two women joined hands.

"Ready."

Together they squeezed their triggers and fired shots over and over again at the view port. The tough glass cracked and shot outwards as the vacuum of space instantly ripped Shepard and Liara off their feet and sent them plummeting towards Omega. The couple glided across the battlefield towards the station as ammunition fired from both the fleet and Omega whizzed by them. The gap between them and the station was closing fast and Shepard braced for impact before they slammed into the exterior walls of the station. Shepard held Liara's hand tight and pulled the asari towards her. Liara latched on to the stations walls.

Below them laid a large view port so they slowly crawled down towards it. Shepard peeked her head down and peered through the window. Inside a squad of batarian soldiers was executing a family of humans. She watched in disgust as they put a bullet through the head of the last prisoner. She signaled Liara and the asari brought up her omni tool and override the room's safety functions before Shepard pressed the barrel of her gun against the glass and fired.

The view port shattered and the batarians were all flung out into the void of space, their faces locked in mute protest as their bodies drifted away. Shepard and Liara crawled inside and activated their mag boots, tethering them to the floor. Liara opened her omni tool again and reactivated the room's safety mechanisms. A large steel plate rose from the view port's now empty frame and sealed the room. They waited for the room to re-pressurize before removing their masks.

"All right, now to find Aria."


	7. Part 7-Finding Aria

Chapter 14

Omega was in full out war. The batarian raiders pulled innocents out of their homes and executed them without even giving a reason, and they set fire to whatever they could. The large amount of the population who carried firearms were fighting back, causing Liara and Shepard run into a gunfight at almost every corner.

Getting to Afterlife wouldn't be easy. They had ended up several levels below Aria's club and were bogged down at every turn either by Killian's army or confused citizens. Shepard had tried reaching Aria but comms were being blocked.

They had been running for almost 35 straight minutes and the adrenaline in Shepard's body was turning over to exhaustion. Shepard didn't want to admit it but this whole ordeal was taking much more of a toll on her than she had anticipated. As much as she tried to hide it from Liara she couldn't deny it to herself; she was getting old. 35 minutes of running and gunning was reducing her body to a trembling mess and forcing that realization upon her much sooner than she would have liked. Liara hadn't noticed how far she had gotten ahead of Jane before Shepard's knees buckled and the commander fell to the ground.

Jane instantly tried to regain her footing and ignored her burning lungs but her feet slid out from under her again and she collapsed back to the ground. Liara turned when she heard the wheezing commander, and fearing she had taken a bullet rushed to her side.

"Shepard, are you okay?"

"Yeah...help me up...We have to keep moving," Shepard said between heavy breaths.

Liara was perplexed, she was exhausted herself but she had never seen Shepard look so beat. Suddenly a squad of batarians turned the corner. Liara barely had enough time to drag Shepard into cover before the bullets started to fly.

"Stay down!" Liara ordered and to her surprise Shepard nodded in agreement.

Liara caught the majority of the squad in a singularity before turning her attention to the remaining two attackers who carried flamethrowers. Before Liara could attack a stream of flames was being launched her way. She ducked back into cover just in time. A wave of heat doused her as the flames engulfed their cover. If Liara had hair she was certain it would have just burned off.

She waited for a break before quickly popping out of cover. She knew this was going to be close but she was lucky. One of the batarian attacker's gas pack was exposed and Liara fired a single shot and hit her target.

The pack erupted into a violent explosion killing both attackers. The charred body of the second flamer was propelled by the explosion and came to a rest next to Liara.

Acting quickly Liara seized the flamethrower from the stiff hands of the smoldering corpse and pulled the trigger. The asari unleashed a unrelenting stream of fire upon the remaining attackers. By the time she lifted her finger from the trigger the batarians were noting but crumpled piles of smoking meat.

"Wow! Liara, that was amazing!" Shepard said, finally having regained some of her breath.

"Come on we can't waste any time. We're only halfway there according to the map," she said, checking her omni-tool. "Are you ready to move?" She asked extending her hand.

Shepard took her hand and Liara lifted her to her feet. "Yeah, let's go."

In reality Shepard's lungs still burned and her legs felt twice as heavy, but she was determined to never let Liara see her like that again.

Chapter 15

After an exhaustive search Liara and Shepard had found a working elevator which could take them to Afterlife's floor. The pair stepped inside and Shepard punched in the floor number.

"Finally something goes our way." Shepard huffed.

"And we have a moment to catch our breath."

Shepard pulled up her omni-tool and tried calling Garrus, but the comms were nothing but static. After three attempts Shepard gave up and her shoulders sank in defeat.

"I'm worried about him Liara. This wasn't his fight."

Liara placed a comforting hand on Shepard's cheek.

"I know, love. But we can't let his sacrifice be in vain. He did this so that we could have a chance at saving Benezia."

"We'll get her back, I promise. I just don't know what I'm going to tell Tali."

"I know."

"You think there's any chance he'll make it?"

Before Liara could answer the elevator arrived at Afterlife's floor and the doors snapped open.

"Lets go!" Liara said before sprinting out of the elevator.

Shepard had to try and keep up with Liara as she ran to the night club. When finally they had arrived at the entrance it was apparent something was wrong.

The bodies of guards and patrons littered the ground. The large elcor bouncer who once stood guard over the entrance to Afterlife was collapsed forward with his face buried in a puddle of his own blood.

Shepard readied her gun and followed Liara into the entrance tunnel. The flame display that usually greeted visitors was no where to be seen, the entire club was shrouded in darkness.

The bodies that were strewn about outside were unfortunately accompanied by an even larger number of corpses inside the night club. The asari dancers who once spun around the poles on the elevated stage were now motionless, their bodies riddled with bullet holes.

Liara's fear for her child's safety overcame her and she sprinted to Aria's perch leaving Shepard behind in the darkness.

"Liara, wait!" Shepard hollered but her wife ignored her.

Shepard decided to follow her lead and ran after her.

Aria's perch now housed scores of dead bodyguards and batarian raiders, but thankfully both the asari and their daughter were nowhere to be seen amongst the carnage. Liara was not comforted by this fact however.

Liara holstered her weapon and grabbed Shepard and pulled her in close.

"Where is she? What do we do?" Liara asked frantically as she tightened her embrace.

"It's alright Liara. I'm sure Aria got her somewhere safe. I'm going to fix this. She's going to be okay."

"Where do we go now?" There were tears in Liara's eyes.

A gasp escaped from the piles of bodies and a batarian struggled to dig himself out from under the heap of corpses. Shepard pushed Liara away from her and drew her pistol, pressing the barrel against the batarian's forehead.

"Wait Shepard! I'm not your enemy!" the batarian cried.

"Then who the hell are you?"

"Bray! I'm one of Aria's guards. I was at your wedding!" Bray shouted.

Shepard lowered her weapon. "Bray, where is Aria?"

"I know where she is. But can you please help me get out from under this mess?"

Shepard grabbed the batarian's hand and pulled him out from underneath the corpses of his fallen colleagues. Bray screamed in pain as his legs dragged out, the batarian had several bullet holes and shrapnel wounds throughout his lower body that had turned his legs into a twisted mess of gore.

"Shit, I guess it was pretty bad." Bray said as he looked down upon his bleeding body.

"Listen Bray, I need to know where Aria is now! She has our daughter with her."

"I know, I know. Aria is in her safe room with the kid. I put her there myself before everything went to shit."

"So they're safe?" Shepard asked, sounding relieved.

"Should be."

"Thank the Goddess." Liara said.

"The safe room is under the lower bar. Password is "Tevos". I'd go down there with you but..." Bray tried to move his bleeding legs but found he was unable. "I think this is it for me."

"Thank you." Shepard said placing a hand on the dying batarian's shoulder.

Bray dug into his pocket and pulled out a old looking cigarette case. He popped open the lid and removed one of the smokes before placing it with shaking hands into his mouth.

"You got a light?" He asked with distance in his voice.

"Sorry."

"Damn..." Bray said before a final exhale of breath left his mouth and his head slumped forward.

Liara rushed down to Afterlife's lower bar. Shepard raced after her and by the time she had caught up the asari she was standing above a pried open trapdoor behind the bar. Liara barreled into the safe room.

"Aria!" Liara shouted.

Aria T'Loak sat hunched over with her back against the wall. Killian's dagger was shoved through her stomach, spewing purple blood from the wound.

"This is the last time I help out a friend," Aria wheezed.

Shepard rushed to her side. "Oh god. Aria, I need to know where Benezia is."

"He took her."

"How could you lose her?!" Liara shouted at her.

"I didn't exactly hand the kid over!" Aria snapped.

Liara cried out in sorrow and buried her face in Shepard's shoulder.

"That chest behind you. It's got medical supplies. If it's not to much trouble." Aria said eyeing the knife sticking out of her stomach. "He might have the kid, but he made one fatal mistake when he tried to kill me."

"What's that," Shepard asked disinterestedly as she placed a comforting hand on Liara's crest.

"He didn't finish the job. Now hurry up and pull this fucking thing out of me."


	8. Part 8- The Beginning of the End

Chapter 16

Shepard wrapped her hands around the blade's grip while Liara held Aria down.

"Ready?" Shepard asked.

"Just do it." Aria grunted.

Shepard pried the dagger from Aria's torso. Aria screamed in pain as the blade dragged out of her flesh. A jet of fresh blood squirted from the wound but Liara was quick to apply the medi-gel.

The wound sealed closed and Aria shakily got to her feet. The queen put pressure on the wound and winced. Before long painkillers coursed through her veins and numbed the pain to a manageable point, but Aria would need more medical treatment than medi-gel before the night was out.

"...all right. Tagar is blocking all comms from my station. Luckily I put a few fail safes in place after Petrovsky's takeover."

Aria brought up her omni tool and with a few quick motions communications were back online.

"Alright Shepard now might be a good time to call in some favors from your Alliance pals." Aria said. Her voice lacked it's usual bite and was instead rasping and pained.

"Liara, have any and all intel you have on Killian ready to be sent."

"All right. Who are you calling?" The asari got to work.

"I'm going to take an old friend up on an offer."

Shepard punched in a name on her contact list. It rang over and over but there was no answer.

Shepard paced back in forth waiting for the call to connect. "Come on Kaidan, pick up. Please."

But he never did. The call transferred Shepard to his voice messaging system.

"Kaidan! Listen to me. On my wedding night you told me if me or Liara were ever in trouble to call you. Well we're in trouble, lots of trouble. A batarian by the name of Killian Tagar is currently attacking Omega in a full out siege; I'll have Liara send you all the intel she has on him. Liara and I are on the station but he has our daughter, Kaidan. He may have already killed Garrus. I need you, I need the Alliance. Please...help us."

As quickly as it was turned off the communications dampener booted back up and severed the call.

Shepard looked to Aria. "What happened?"

Aria studied her omni-tool "Shit, that bastard overrode my command. Let's hope your friend checks his messages because that's the last call leaving this station."

"Damnit!" Shepard yelled.

"Now what?" Liara asked.

"We have to find Killian and Benezia. We can't wait around and hope the Alliance shows up."

"Take the fight to Tagar. I like it. I might know someone who could help us find him." Aria grunted.

"Who?"

"Old contact. Salarian by the name of Morot. He's a slippery bastard but he's managed to keep his head above water surprisingly well. If I had to guess I'd say Morot had something to do with all this."

"Why?"

"Killian's well funded but he isn't smart enough to plan something like this himself. He'd have needed someone on Omega that wasn't his usual batarian grunt. And as much as I hate to admit it I didn't see this coming. The only person who could have kept something like this from me is Morot."

"Where can we find this Morot?" Liara asked.

"Morot is a typical salarian, too much of a pussy to be out fighting in this madness. I'd bet we find him at his house. He lives in the Tuhi District. Since comms are down I guess we'll have to meet him in person."

"If this Morot was such a problem and you knew where he lived why didn't you deal with him before?" Liara asked.

"He wasn't much help to me dead. Even if I had no use for him at the time I'm not in the business of killing potential assets. Don't worry T'Soni, he'll answer for what he's done, painfully."

"All right, that's the plan then. We find this guy and hope he helps us find Killian before Killian finds us, let's go." Shepard said.

The trio made their way out of the dead night club. Rage filled Aria as she stared at the remains of Afterlife. The club she had called home for countless years was now a mass grave for far too many recognizable faces.

"Shepard, I don't care what your Alliance says. Killian doesn't leave this station alive."

"While normally I would disagree Aria. I have no intention of letting him live. I don't care what his justifications are, when we find Tagar, he's history."

Aria smirked, she was somewhat surprised at the commander's brutal reply. "At least married life hasn't made you soft. What about you T'Soni?"

"He destroyed our home, threatened my life and Shepard's, killed our best friend, and kidnapped my daughter. He's a dead man."

"Well it's good to know we are all on the same page. If it was up to me I'd rip the batarian bastard limb from limb. Even Petrovsky and Cerberus weren't this bad."

"At least Cerberus had a motive. This is senseless slaughter, all in the name of vengeance. It's... monstrous." Liara said as she stared at the bodies of slaughtered patrons.

Finally they were outside. The stench of the dead bodies inside turned over to the usual stench of Omega's streets.

"All right, Morot's place is this way. Follow me." Aria said.

Chapter 17

Morot's apartment complex was eerily silent in contrast to the raging station. Aria lead them to a door at the end of long hallway.

Aria knocked sternly but didn't bother speaking. Shepard shot an unsure look at Liara. The doctor readied her gun, Shepard could see the determination in her eyes. She wanted Benezia back and was willing to do anything. Shepard was as well but the commander was beginning to worry that Liara's concern might make her sloppy, that it might get her hurt.

Aria made a fist and pounded on the door. This time a shrill sounding salarian spoke up.

"Yes!? Who is it!?" Morot spat from inside.

Aria was tired of playing nice. In a impressive display of biotic power the asari shattered the door with a powerful blast launching the salarian across the room.

"It's Aria. Now why don't we get right down to business Morot." Aria said placing her boot on the salarian's slender neck and pinning him to the ground.

Morot squirmed under Aria's heel. "Screw you, Aria!"

"Please don't try and make me laugh with some pathetic display of defiance. I'm not in the mood. You're going to tell me where Killian Tagar is and then you're going to beg me to not put a bullet through your head for helping him."

"All right...all right I'll talk. Killian paid a lot of money for me to help keep his plan from you. Sometimes he just wanted information; other times he needed me to smuggle things. Been at it for about six months. He planned on docking his ship in one of the hangers and using it as his base of operations."

"Which hanger?" Aria demanded putting more pressure on Morot's neck.

"Hanger 60B! Now please, Aria, it was just business! You of all people should understand that!"

"My business is Omega. And because of you my station is under siege. So Morot, I'm sure you understand why I'm about to shoot you."

Morot squirmed, his body making quick spastic movements. "Wait! Please!" he pleaded.

Aria fired her gun and executed the salarian. "It's just business." Aria took a moment to say goodbye by spitting on Morot's bleeding corpse.

"Aria, he was unarmed," Shepard protested.

"Grow up Shepard. I've had centuries to learn the only way to deal with scum like Morot is with a bullet. Don't tell me how to do things on my station. Now lets go get your kid."

Aria didn't wait for Liara and Shepard and headed back out into the hallway.

Liara's eyes were glued to the salarian's splattered head.

"You alright?" Shepard asked.

"Yes...it's just."

"What?"

"I would have done the same thing as him. It's my business to sell information without asking for a reason. How many innocent people have been killed as a result of the information I've provided?"

"Liara!"

"Don't bother, Shepard. There's nothing you can say to make me feel better. This is my fault, I should have destroyed all the Broker's networks after the Reapers. Now Garrus might be dead, Omega is being destroyed and Benezia is in the hands of a terrorist. How could I let this happen?"

In the pit of her stomach Shepard knew she was right. "It's not too late, Liara. We finish this and you can end the Shadow Broker once and for all."

"But I'd still be responsible. I'd still have those deaths on my head. How can I live with myself."

"I have more than my fair share of deaths on my head. Over 300,000 if your counting. What Killian said isn't false, I destroyed the Bahak system. I killed those people, his family."

"But you did it to stop the Reapers!"

"They're still dead Liara! And my unit on Akuze, I knew every one of them, some of them had children like Benezia. They're dead too, because of me. And... Ashley... everyone else I've lost. We make choices Liara and sometimes other people...innocent people, pay the price. You can't let it get to you Liara. It'll eat you alive if you do. Trust me I know. Stay focused, Benezia needs you. I need you."

Liara met Shepard's eyes. "Your right. Thank you. It's just..."

"I know."

"Do I need to remind you two that we have places to be? Let's go!" Aria called from the hall.

Liara took one last look at Morot's corpse and turned back into the hall.

Chapter 18

Morot hadn't lied. After an agonizingly long trek to hanger 60B they had arrived, and parked square in the center of the hanger was Killian's vessel, the very same ship they had escaped from a few short hours ago. The three women crouched behind a large shipping crate. Shepard peeked her head out to asses the scene and saw no more than two armed guards patrolling outside.

"I don't see him," Shepard whispered.

"Me either," Liara added.

Shepard looked to Aria. "You think he's inside?"

"Yeah, I do," Aria answered.

Liara extended her gun. "So what's the plan?"

"I only see two guards. It's possible he only has the two and the rest are sacking the station, not much reason to protect himself when we're the only three who know he's behind this. We take them out and then we storm the ship and find Killian, we'll just have to hope he has Benezia in there. Pick your shots carefully."

Shepard brought up three fingers and gave a silent countdown to Aria and Liara. On three they sprang out of cover and annihilated the two guards in an unrelenting hail of gunfire. The two guards were dead before they hit the ground, their corpses sporting multiple smoldering bullet holes.

"Alright let's finish this." Shepard said, but her confidence betrayed her.

Before the trio even set foot on the loading ramp a squadron made up of at least a dozen men funneled out of ship with weapons drawn. Shepard pulled Liara back into cover and Aria followed.

"So much for that!" Aria spat.

Shepard readied her gun and prepared for a fight but a voice from inside the vessel stopped her.

"Hold your fire!"

Killian Tagar strolled out of the ship with his arms folded behind his back.

"Commander Shepard, it's about time we were reunited. I see you brought Aria with you, I suppose I'll have to watch her bleed out next time."

"Fuck you!" Aria shouted.

"You've unfortunately put me in a frustrating position," Killian said.

"How's that?" Shepard hollered.

"Well now, either my men will have to shoot all three of you, denying me the slow painful death I've dreamt for you every second of the last two years... or we can make a deal."

"Or we could just kill your men and space your ass out the nearest airlock!" Aria added.

"You could try, but I have more men inside and even more on their way. The odds aren't in your favor."

"I'm not making any deal until I see my daughter!" Shepard shouted from behind cover.

"I'll do you one better." Killian motioned to his men inside and Garrus Vakarian staggered out of the ship carrying Benezia in his arms. His bleeding stump was left un-bandaged and created a trail of blood behind him as he limped. But his hand wasn't all that bled. A thick layer of both dry and fresh blood poured from his mouth. "I'll give you back your piece of shit turian. I have made a few alterations however." Killian chuckled and seized Garrus's jaw and pried it open. The turian's tongue was missing and it's stump was spewing fresh blood into his mouth. "He needed to learn to shut his mouth. Maybe that will help. I must be honest with you Shepard, the big guy's probably going to bleed out any minute."

Shepard felt a tear fall down her cheek as she looked at her friend. Garrus's posture wavered and Shepard knew Killian's assessment was accurate, Garrus would be dead soon if she didn't do something.

"What kind of deal?" Shepard hollered.

"You turn yourself over peacefully to allow me to torture you until you long delayed death at my hand. In return I'll give you your daughter back and let your friends go."

"I thought you started this whole thing to take down the Shadow Broker!"

"There's a time for everything. Now is not Doctor T'Soni's time. It is, however, yours."

"If I surrender myself...you'll let them all live?"

"I give you my word."

Shepard threw her gun out. Before she could walk out in the open Liara's hand grabbed her and pulled her back.

Tears flowed freely from Liara's eyes. "Shepard! What are you doing?"

"I have to do what he says, Liara." Shepard said as tears welled in her own eyes.

"No! There has to be another way!"

"There's not. It's like I said, Benezia needs you more than me 250 years or not. When she's old enough to understand, tell her then her father loved her very much, that she would have given anything to see her grow up." Shepard placed a comforting hand on Liara's crest.

"You can't leave me again!" Liara cried.

"I love you, Liara."

Liara could hardly speak, "I love you too."

"Goodbye." Shepard said before kissing Liara one more time.

Shepard pulled away from Liara and moved out into the open. Liara reached her arms out, in an attempt to try and hold her again, one last time. Aria seized her from behind.

"Let her go." Aria said. Her voice devoid of any bite or sarcasm but instead full of genuine sadness.

Shepard felt her heart race faster with every step she took towards Killian. The batarian smiled revealing his pointed teeth as the commander approached. Finally she came to stop in front of Garrus.

Garrus's eyes were heavy both from the blood loss and with grief. He tried to speak producing a muffled sounding "Shepard".

Shepard placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry Garrus."

"Enough! Get on the ship!" Killian snatched Shepard by the hair and dragged her inside.

"Wait! My family?"

"I'm a man of my word, Shepard." Killian pulled up his omni-tool and hailed his fleet. "Stand down. We got what we came for."

Killian's men began funneling back inside of the ship and Garrus limped towards Liara doing his best to not collapse and drop Benezia. Shepard took one last look behind her shoulder as Garrus handed the child to Liara.

Liara didn't even look at her daughter, her eyes were glued to Shepard's as the bay door lifted up and sealed the ship with Shepard inside. Liara fell to her knees, pulling Benezia close to her chest. She watched helplessly as the ship lifted from the ground and took off leaving her behind.


	9. Part 9- Blood

Chapter 19

Liara had spent the last five minutes hunched over on the ground, clutching her daughter close as tears streamed from her blue eyes. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air.

Aria had remained silent since Killian's ship had taken off but she had been kind enough to stabilize Garrus as best she could with medi-gel. The turian had lost a lot of blood, however, and Aria feared it was too late.

Garrus tried saying something to her but it all came out as nothing but muffled syllables as his eyes rolled back and his head collapsed forward.

"Fuck." Aria muttered to herself and felt for a pulse with little hope of finding one. She was surprised to find the faint thump of a heartbeat. She was impressed with his resilience but she pegged his survival odds at about as low as they could get. Turians could withstand loss of blood a lot longer than most species, it was part of the reason the race had such a military edge. Even still, Aria knew Garrus was bleeding to death. She shot an awkward glance towards Liara. She was still loudly weeping into one free hand as the other supported the child.

Aria didn't usually feel empathy but there was no mistaking the feeling when she looked at the doctor. Shepard upset her most however. Friend was not a term she used often but she counted the commander as one. The two women were very different but she couldn't help but admire her.

She decided she owed it to Shepard to comfort her wife even if she had no idea as to how to go about it. Slowly she approached Liara.

"Liara, I know this is…difficult, but..."

"She's gone. How can she be gone? It's…I can't…" Liara's sentenced ended as another fit of tears overcame her.

She was completely devastated. Shepard had been the first and only woman she had loved, her best friend, and the father of her child. Shepard had been there for her when her home planet was being destroyed, she had been there for her when her mother died. She couldn't picture her life without her; she didn't even want to try.

"Your friend isn't going to make it unless we find him help. He's lost a lot of blood and it may be too late already," Aria said softly.

"I can't let her do this, Aria. Do you have a ship? Something we can use to go after her."

"And then what, we take down an entire war fleet? She sacrificed her life to save yours. Don't go getting yourself killed and make it all for nothing. She wouldn't want that."

"She means everything to me! I will not sit back and allow her to be tortured until she dies a slow painful death! After everything she's been through…all she's done for me, it can't end like this." Liara sobbed.

"The galaxy is a cruel bitch. After everything she did, she deserves to have a happy ending. But if there's one thing I've learned in 1000 years it's that the good people…the people like Shepard. They don't get to stick around long enough to have one."

"I won't let her go Aria... I can't."

"It's over. And you're not hearing me, Garrus needs help. Save who you still can."

Benezia squirmed in Liara's arms and began to cry.

Slowly Liara got to her feet. "You're right. Let's...let's go find him some help."

She took one last look out the hanger view port at Killian's ship as it hung suspended between the station and the relay. Knowing it was the closest she would ever be to Shepard again. That when she turned away, it would be over.

"Goodbye, Shepard." She whispered.

Chapter 20

EARTH- A Few Hours Earlier.

Kaidan Alenko laid asleep in his bed. It was in the early hours of the morning in Vancouver and Kaidan had just been through a very long and tedious day at work. Beside his bed his omni-tool beeped with a notification. The device flashed and chirped over and over again until it successfully woke the sleeping officer. Kaidan groaned and reluctantly snapped the device on to his wrist and opened it.

There was a message from Shepard. Kaidan arched an eyebrow confused as to why his old Commander would be messaging him this late. The shock of the message made him sit up in his bed as he prepared to open it. He selected to play the message and the Commander's voice rattled out of the device.

"Kaidan! Listen to me. On my wedding night you told me if me or Liara were ever in trouble to call you. Well we're in trouble, lots of trouble. A batarian by the name of Killian Tagar is currently attacking Omega in a full out siege; I'll have Liara send you all the intel she has on him. Liara and I are on the station but he has our daughter, Kaidan. He may have already killed Garrus. I need you, I need the Alliance. Please...help us."

Then the message abruptly ended.

"Oh shit." Kaidan said to himself.

Alenko threw the covers off himself and jumped out of bed. He pulled the uniform pants he discarded on the floor before bed up his legs. Not bothering with a shirt he ran out into the hallway.

The large home his father had left him following his death at the hands of the Reapers was shrouded in darkness. But Kaidan knew the place well enough to navigate it blind. He ran down the stairs and approached the closed door of another bedroom. Inside Kaidan could hear the moans of two women.

He had promised to not disturb their privacy before but this was an emergency. Kaidan slammed the bedroom door open and stepped inside. Miranda Lawson and Jack sat completely naked on their bed. Lawson currently had her head buried between the biotic's thighs. For a brief moment Jack didn't even notice the interloper as she finished riding a powerful orgasm. Soon Jack's senses returned and she spotted Kaidan standing in the doorway with a shocked expression plastered on his face. Jack swiftly but reluctantly pulled Miranda's lips from their pleasurable position.

Miranda wiped her chin dry looking up at her lover in confusion. "What's wrong? I thought you loved when I do that."

Without words Jack seized Miranda by the cheeks and tilted her head so she could view their intruder. The instant she saw Kaidan she pulled the covers off the floor to shield her body from Alenko's eyes.

"What the Fuck!" Jack screamed.

"Kaidan, I thought we agreed on a knocking policy!" Miranda reminded him. The raven haired woman's face was bright red.

"I'm sorry but this is an emergency."

"I don't fucking care!" Jack shouted. "Unless the place is burning down you knock!"

"Shepard and Liara are in serious trouble! Garrus might be dead. She needs our help!" Kaidan said.

Miranda sat up and wiped her hair back from where sweat had clung it to her face. "What?"

"They are trapped on Omega. She said some batarians were sacking the station and one of them, Killian Tagar I think kidnapped their daughter and killed Garrus!"

"Shit." Jack said quietly, no longer upset with Alenko's intrusion. "Okay what do we do?"

"We need to get the Alliance's support. Ships, troops, something!"

"Kaidan, I know we're talking about Shepard but there no way the Alliance is going to send a fleet to the Terminus systems to save one woman." Miranda said regrettably.

"Damnit Miranda! She'd do it for us. And we all owe her more than we could ever give! I don't care what the Alliance says. I promised I'd help her and I'm going to. Get your clothes on, both of you. We have work to do."

Chapter 21

Killian's fist slammed into Shepard's jaw with powerful force, slamming her to the metal floor of his private chambers. She propped herself back up with one hand on the floor and the other rubbing her jaw. The batarian's boot caught her in the ribcage, and she felt a handful of her ribs snap sending her crashing back onto the floor.

Shepard gasped for air as she felt Killian's fist tighten around the back of her head clutching her hair and yanking her to her knees.

"You thought you could run away from me. That you could escape. The things I'm going to do to you commander. You're going to be begging me to kill you. That tough soldier act is going to be the first thing you lose. Then maybe your eyes, or your hands. When I'm done you'll be nothing but a pile of meat that I'll feed to my varren."

Shepard moved her tongue around in her mouth and felt a loose tooth amongst the blood that now flooded her gums. She spit the tooth on to the floor and felt her blood run down her chin. She wondered why he hadn't placed dampeners on her hands like last time. Perhaps it was because he knew she had nowhere to escape to this time, that any resistance would jeopardize their deal and endanger her family. She reckoned she was too weak to use her biotics regardless. She was finished, plain and simple. "Why do this? What does this get you?" she wheezed, her voice strained and almost unrecognizable.

"Satisfaction, closure, justice. Pick your favorite. I'm sure you've convinced yourself that everything you've done has been justified. You will have no such luck with me." He moved over to a table on which he had placed an assortment of blades and other torturous devices. "You know when I left Aratoht for the final time I didn't even say goodbye to my wife. I figured I would be back soon and there was no need to wake her. I had breakfast with my children, packed my things and left. When I heard about what you did, all I thought was why couldn't I have been with them. You denied me even that. When the Reapers came I actually thought for a moment that maybe you were right. That maybe my family had been sacrificed for the greater good. And yet my homeworld was still destroyed, my civilization wiped out, and my people left to die out and be forgotten," Killian said as he picked up a large club.

"I did what I had to do. And you would have done the same damn thing," Shepard whimpered.

"You know nothing about me commander. My family was my life, my sole purpose for existence. I would sooner see the entire galaxy destroyed than sacrifice their lives."

Killian raised the club over his head. Just as the batarian was ready to bring it down upon Shepard a voice over the ship's comm stopped him. "Sir, the fleet is ready to make the jump through the relay on your go."

"Excellent. Well, Shepard, your skull will have to remain intact for the time being. I have something I want to show you," Killian said and grabbed Shepard by the arm and dragged her to the ship's cockpit.

Outside the cockpit's view port Shepard saw Omega.

"Take a good look, Shepard," Killian said smugly.

"Why?" She asked fearfully.

Killian reached into a satchel and pulled out a detonator. With a flick of his thumb he primed it. "Because I'm about to destroy that station and everyone aboard it."

Shepard shot up. "You said you were a man of your word!"

Killian slapped her. "Did you really think that after everything you've done to me that I was going to let your family live? That I would just let the Shadow Broker and your friends go? Fuck my word. I have no honor left, the only thing driving me is vengeance. Restrain her!" He barked, and two batarians seized Shepard by the arms. Jane shut her eyes, unwilling to watch what watch what was about to take place. "Open your eyes Shepard! I want you to watch as I kill them!" Killian's thumb hovered over the detonator's button.

"Please…please don't." Shepard pleaded. "You said your family meant everything to you. Mine does as well."

Killian smiled. "I know." Just as he began lowering his thumb towards the button over a dozen Alliance dreadnoughts poured through Omega's relay. "What is this!" He screamed as the Alliance ships began to blast his fleet's ships one after the other.

Shepard took advantage of the distraction and broke free from her restrainers and drove her fingers through their eyes. She felt warm blood drench her fingers as she removed them from the batarian's eye sockets. The two guards fell to the ground clutching at their now blind faces. She snatched the detonator from Killian's hands and jabbed her thumb through his lower right eye. Killian staggered backwards as blood poured from his face. "You bitch!" he wailed.

The first bullet struck her in the thigh. She ignored the pain and grabbed the shooter around the neck before snapping it. The second grazed her head and shredded off the top of her right ear. She reached for one of the dead batarian's guns and put down the second shooter with a perfect shot between his four eyes. Shepard quickly unprimed the detonator and smashed it underneath her boot.

The third bullet struck her from behind and went through her stomach. The exit wound popped through her belly creating a tiny explosion of gore. Shepard coughed and blood came from her mouth.

A second squad made up of seven more batarians rushed into the cockpit and aimed their guns at Shepard. She threw her gun down and fell to her knees while closing her eyes now content to die. She had saved her family, her last mission was complete. But before the squad could open fire the ship's comm system was highjacked by an outside source.

"This is a message to Killian Tagar and all other crew aboard this vessel. This is Lieutenant Colonel Kaidan Alenko of the Systems Alliance Navy. We know you have Commander Shepard aboard, release her unharmed and surrender peacefully and we guarantee your safety. Refuse and we will end each and every last one of you. Count on it," Kaidan said through the comm.

The batarian squad exchanged looks amongst each other before the first one threw their gun down and soon the others followed.

"What the hell are you doing? This woman and her Alliance are the reason our race is in ruin! They are to blame for Khar'shan, for anyone with family in the Bahak system! Take her down!" Killian screamed pressing his palm against his empty eye socket.

"The bitch isn't worth dying over." One of the batarians said.

"Cowards! All of you! I'll kill her myself!" Killian screamed before lurching towards Shepard.

Tagar tackled her to the ground bringing his fist down in wild and rapid punches to Shepard's face. Killian unsheathed a knife he had strapped to his thigh and raised it above his head. He brought it down and stabbed through Shepard's left shoulder. Killian pried the blade out of her releasing a jet of blood that squirted like a geyser from Jane's shoulder only to come down once again pinning her to the ground. Shepard screamed in pain and kicked the batarian off her.

Without hesitation she pried the knife from her shoulder and sat up, ignoring the blood that spilled from the wound and the light headed feeling that was becoming overwehelming as she bled from her multiple wounds. Killian lurched at her again his hands outstretched towards her as he ran. Shepard swung the knife in a diagonal arc and severed off all the fingers of Tagar's right hand. Killian tackled Shepard back to the ground knocking the blade from her grip. The back of Shepard's head struck the metal floor making her go dizzy. Tagar wrapped his left hand around her throat. Blood oozed out of the empty eye socket and dripped on to her face as Shepard thrashed under his hold. Her vision darkened as she gasped for air. Killian bashed her head again against the cold floor. Jane's face began to turn red and Tagar tightened his grip.

"And now you die Shepard. For my family, for my people… for me!" Killian grunted.

Shepard summoned all the strength she had left into one biotic blast that catapulted Killian off her. She scrambled to her feet once more just as Tagar threw one last desperate punch her way. Shepard seized his wrist and stopped the attack before it connected. He attempted to jab at her broken ribs with the bleeding stumps of his right hand, stretching out his remaining fingers and tugging violently to free himself from Shepard's grasp.

Shepard took hold of his outstretched fingers and bent them all back. She felt each one of the batarian's digits snap under her hold before kicking his feet out from under him. Shepard brought up one foot and slammed it down on Killian's chest caving his sternum in

Killian didn't bother getting back up. The batarian crumpled up in defeat and howled in pain. Shepard limped over to a discarded pistol that lay on the ground a few feet from her. She picked up the gun and popped the heat sink and moved back in front of Killian who managed to sit up on his knees.

"Is this where you prove how you're better than me Shepard, by sparing my life? You're no better, you're a monster. And no matter how many years your Alliance puts me away I will find you and I will skin you, your bitch asari, and your daughter alive!" Killian shouted his voice going hoarse.

Shepard silenced him by jabbing her finger through another one of Killian's eye sockets. "That was for Garrus." Killian screamed as Shepard plunged her finger into another eye. "That was for Liara." Jane stabbed her finger once more into his remaining eye and finally blinded the wailing batarian. Blood streamed down his face distorting it into an unrecognizable mess. "That was for my daughter." Shepard pressed the barrel of the pistol against Killian's forehead. Without hesitation Shepard squeezed the trigger and fired, ending his suffering. A splash of warm crimson sprayed on to her face as the bullet traveled through Killian's skull. The batarian's body slowly lurched backwards and flopped to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around Killian's bleeding exit wound. "That was for me."

Shepard raised the gun and pointed it at one of the disarmed guards. "You, dock this ship back on Omega."

She was fighting to stay awake as she lost more and more blood by the second. She felt cold all over and soon the unbearable pain she felt turned over to numbness and her fingers felt like they were on pins and needles. She sucked in a few rasping breaths and flopped into a chair in the cockpit. She just had to hope that her luck held out. This one last time.


	10. Part 10- An End Once And For All

Chapter 22

Liara watched as the Alliance soldiers rushed on to the station with guns drawn. The battles that still waged on Omega were quickly ended as the Navy moved in. She had handed Garrus off to an Alliance medic who promised to do everything she could before placing him on a stretcher and wheeling him into one of their docked vessels.

Everything seemed to be happening in a flash as Liara sat still holding her daughter in her arms. Aria leaned against the wall next to her with her arms crossed not happy to have the so many members of the Alliance on her station.

"You better remember to take your friends with you when you go, T'Soni," Aria said.

Liara ignored her comment. "Do you think they stopped Killian before he could get away?"

"How should I know?"

Liara hung her head low. A soft tap on the shoulder raised her head once more.

"Hey Liara, are you two okay?" Kaidan asked, eyeing Benezia.

"We're fine, Kaidan. Please, tell me you got Shepard back?"

"I think you better follow me." Kaidan said offering his hand to her. Liara accepted and Kaidan pulled her to her feet.

"I'll stay here. Nice working with you Liara. And don't worry about our agreement, we're square. I'm… sorry for losing the kid. And if Shepard makes it, tell her thanks." Aria said her face twisting awkwardly as she apologized. Then she pointed one of her blue fingers sternly at Kaidan. "You, make sure you round up all your little soldiers before getting off my station. I better go get this hole in my stomach taken care of." Then she was gone.

"You're welcome." Kaidan said mostly to himself. "All right, this way Liara." Kaidan lead her to a nearby hanger.

"Why are we here?" Liara asked.

"That batarian, Killian?"

"What about him?"

"His ship is about to dock in this hanger. We took care of the rest of his fleet."

"You mean. Shepard…"

"That's what we're hoping."

Killian's ship slowly came into the hanger and landed. Liara held her breath as the ship's engine shut off and the loading ramp began to lower.

Jane Shepard stood before her with a squad of batarians behind her, all with their arms behind their heads. The commander was drenched in blood.

Jane limped off the ramp as the Alliance soldiers moved in to apprehend the batarian crew. Liara moved towards her in disbelief; just recently she had seen her taken off to be executed and now here she stood before her still drawing breath.

Shepard dragged her bad leg behind her with desperation in her eyes when she saw Liara rushing at her. She put pressure on the exit wound in her stomach and tried to move quicker. But walking was too difficult, and she fell to the ground. Shepard tried getting back to her feet but before she could Liara was by her side wrapping her right arm around her neck in a loving embrace as Benezia sat between their bodies still held in Liara's left arm.

"You're back." Liara said in a hushed voice as their bodies separated. She still couldn't believe it and hearing her lover confirm it would finally cement it as reality.

"I'm back." Shepard's voice was pained and nearly unrecognizable.

Liara separated from the embrace when she heard the pain in Jane's voice and took a good look at her bondmate. She was badly injured. Half of her right ear was missing, her mouth was spewing blood from a missing tooth, a stab wound through the shoulder and a bullet hole in her thigh and stomach. But she was alive.

"Goddess love, you need a doctor now."

"Yeah… I know," she agreed before her eyes rolled back and she lost consciousness, her head flopping against Liara's chest.

Chapter 23

Jane's eyes shot open. Franticly she scanned the room. The rhythmic beep of a heart monitor chimed next to her bed. As her eyes focused she noticed the sleeping asari by her side.

Liara sat with her head hunched forward in a chair by Shepard's bedside. Jane realized she had a large amount of bandages wrapped around her head covering her mangled ear and her shoulder was completely numb, as was her leg and abdomen; no doubt the result of painkillers of some kind.

Then she became frantic. Where was her daughter? She sat up, her ribs stinging as she did. Then her eyes focused on a crib that appeared to have been dragged in from the hospital's maternity ward. She let out a sigh of relief and laid back against her pillow.

She observed Liara as she listened to her breathe softly in her sleep. Shepard decided she had to speak with her and placed a hand gently on Liara's thigh. The asari's eyes jolted open.

"Shepard, you're awake!"

"I'm awake. What's going on?" Shepard asked drowsily.

"The Alliance brought us back to Thessia. The doctors had to perform a few blood transfusions amongst other things. It's over now. How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, I can't feel much of anything. Never mind me. How's Garrus?"

A third voice chimed in. "Battered but alive." Tali'Zorah said from the doorway of Shepard's room.

Shepard sat back up in surprise. "Tali, I am so sorry about all this."

Tali moved to her bedside. "You should be. All the madness the three of you have been through! What were you thinking going after this bosh'tet all on your own?"

Liara placed a hand on Shepard's arm."We have had quite the adventure."

"Well, if it's all the same to you Liara, I think it's my last adventure. I'm too old to be getting my ear blown off," Jane said with a smile.

"Or stabbed, shot and beaten," Liara added.

Shepard chuckled, realizing how ridiculous the whole ordeal had been after hearing it out loud. "Those too."

"Keelah, Shepard, you are insane."

"Completely insane." A male voice called from the hallway. Shepard looked past Tali and saw Kaidan making his way into her room. Following close behind him was Miranda Lawson and Jack . "Sorry I missed your call, Shepard."

"Kaidan, get over here," Shepard said spreading her arms. The Alliance officer made his way over and hugged his former commander. "I can't thank you enough. You saved our lives. I can never repay you."

"Shepard, you saved the whole damn galaxy. This one is on the house. Plus I didn't do it on my own. I may of had some help from the love birds over there." Kaidan said after they separated.

"You call us love birds one more time Alenko and I am going to kick your ass." Jack said crossing her inked arms.

Miranda roped her arm around Jack's waist and planted a kiss on her cheek solely for the purpose of embarrassing the biotic. " I had to make sure to preserve my handy work. I didn't bring you back to life just to lose you to some batarians. Although by the looks of you Shepard we may have arrived a tad late. How are you feeling?"

"Like I got my ass kicked." Shepard said.

"All things considered that's not so bad."

"Good to see you made it Shepard." Jack said.

"Thanks Jack."

Kaidan turned to Tali "I heard Garrus got pretty beat up. How is he?"

"The doctors stopped the bleeding with just enough time to save him. His tongue and finger are another story but its nothing cloned tissue transplants can't fix. Still, he won't be singing any time soon. Miranda was able to bring Shepard back from the dead, I'm sure the doctors will be able to get Garrus back on his feet, but he won't be getting better over night."

"Is he awake?" Shepard asked.

"No. Been out cold since Omega. He might not like it, but I'm having him taken back to Rannoch with me. I'd like to keep him close for the time being."

Liara threaded her fingers through Shepard's hair. "I can understand that."

"I better go check on him. Next time you want to do something stupid and bring my boyfriend along, at least have the decency to call."

Shepard smiled. "I promise. Take care, Tali. I really am sorry about Garrus."

"I'm glad you're okay. Well, relatively okay. I'll see you all later." And with that Tali was gone.

"I owe you three a thank you as well. Is there anything we can do for you?" Liara said.

"If you guys really want to repay us I wouldn't say no to a steak dinner before we head back for Vancouver."

"Fuck, I am starving. A steak sounds amazing." Jack said with Miranda's arm still looped around her.

Liara chuckled. "Done."

"What happened to the batarians left after the assault?" Shepard asked.

"The ones who surrendered were placed under arrest and are going to stand trial on Earth. The others, well…I almost feel bad. They're a dying race and if they hadn't already been made extinct by the Reapers this may have been the nail in the coffin."

Jane broke eye contact with Kaidan and looked down to her feet. "They made their choice."

"I wouldn't feel so bad. The batarians have been trouble ever since humanity made first contact. This was bound to happen." Miranda said.

"Babe, your speaking like Cerberus again. Stop." Jack said.

Kaidan sighed. "Well there's not much anyone can do about now. We'll see you two later. I imagine you would like some time alone."

"Bye, guys. Thanks again."

Kaidan turned to address Jane one more time "Oh and the offer still stands Shepard. If you ever find yourself in trouble again, don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks, but my days of finding trouble are over."

"Take care of her Liara." Miranda said with a smile.

Liara returned the woman's smile. "I will."

"Actually Miranda can we see you for a little bit longer in private." Shepard asked.

Miranda arched an eyebrow and let go of Jack. "Okay. I'll be out in a moment Jack."

"Don't keep her too long Shepard. Alright Alenko let's go find something to drink." Jack said before leaving the room with Kaidan following close behind.

Miranda studied the couple in the awkward silence that followed Jack and Kaidan's departure. It didn't take her long to figure things out. "You told her." She said to Liara.

"I did." Liara said.

Miranda smirked. "Honestly I'm surprised you held on to it this long."

Shepard leaned forward in her bed. "I want to thank you Miranda."

"Shepard you don't ever need to thank me. If anyone deserves a little more time it's you. You really should thank my father, he's the one who came up with the science. I just simply tweaked my genetics to work for you. Too bad he wasn't as good a man as he was a scientist."

"Miranda you've done so much for me. You've saved my life twice now."

"You're my friend Shepard. I don't just look after my sister. I better go find Jack."

"Goodbye Miranda."

Then they were alone.

Liara closed the door and made her way back to Shepard's side. The asari sat back in her chair and sunk her head into Shepard's chest.

"I thought I lost you again." Liara said softly as she stroked Jane's abdomen. Careful not to disturb the bandaged bullet hole.

Jane placed a hand lovingly on Liara's crests. "I thought you did too."

"Please Shepard, don't leave me again. Promise me."

"I promise."

"I just want to live out the rest of our days in peace," Liara said, her head still resting on Shepard.

"What you said on Omega. About the Broker. Liara, the Shadow Broker is always going to have enemies."

Liara sat up to look into Shepard's eyes. "I know... I'm finished. You and Benezia are the only things that matter to me and I will not put you two in danger again. From this moment on the Shadow Broker is dead."

Shepard smiled. "That's good to hear. Speaking of Benezia, how is she?"

Liara walked over to the crib that their daughter was currently napping in. She carefully picked up the child and brought her to Shepard. Jane's hands softly accepted the baby. Slowly she rocked her daughter in her arms.

"I haven't held you in what seems like forever," Jane said to the child. Benezia's eyes fluttered open and she kicked her little legs. "She is beautiful, Liara."

Liara smiled. "She really is."


	11. Epilogue

6 months later.

Doctor Casey studied the turian's charts. While it hadn't exactly been a textbook recovery he was impressed with his resilience. The turian had earned his fame in the doctors eyes.

Casey dropped the medical clipboard on his desk and focused his attention on the patient. "Alright Mr. Vakarian the results of the tissue transplants are very promising." Casey's eyes were drawn to the turian's companion who sat by his side. "I see you brought your quarian friend with you this afternoon. It's nice to see you again Mrs. Zorah."

"And you doctor." Tali replied. The quarian's three fingered hands were wrapped around the mute patient's arm.

Casey cleared his throat. "As i was saying the results are good. Very good. In fact I'm willing to bet we can remove your jaw restraint and see if you're able to speak."

Tali's posture jolted straight. She pried her helmeted face from Garrus and towards the doctor. "Really?"

"I don't see why not. The final treatment was last week. It may be a bit difficult but I'm confident we could get a few words out of you Garrus. How's that sound?"

Garrus shook his head up and down in mute agreement.

"Terrific! Well Let's get started."

Casey took hold of the restraint that had kept Garrus's jaw firmly clenched shut for the last 6 months in between his tissue regrowth sessions. The Doctor pressed in the release and the restraint popped off. "There we go."

Garrus slowly tested his jaw by opening and closing it twice before turing to the quarian by his side. "...Tali." he said with a ragged but calming voice.

In a rare moment, Tali was glad her face still hid behind her mask as tears streamed from her eyes upon hearing the sound of Garrus's voice again. "Garrus!" She sobbed through her happy tears and wrapped her body around him in a loving embrace.

He had spent 6 long months trapped in his head. Unable to ask a question that was burned into his mind. Now he was free, now after all this time he could ask.

"Tali...Will you marry me?"

Final Notes- After a month of writing this series it's finally over. I had a blast writing this and I really want to thank the users who reviewed the story. I also want to thank and dedicate this story to my editor who helped make this story be a cut above the other stuff I've posted. Thank you for reading.


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